Beetle and the Blonde
by dikemon
Summary: A collection of stories involving Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl. Rating and theme varies within each chapter. Chapter fourteen: Jaime breaks free from the Reach's control just one more time before sinking into oblivion.
1. Interruption

**Beetle and the Blonde  
**_(disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It all belongs to DC)_

_A/N: So this will be my WonderBeetle drabble dump/oneshot collection from now on. It would range to all sorts of fics, like drama/comedy/fluff/wakingupinbedtogether/kidfic/futurefic blah blah. Possibilities are endless. I would try to make twoshots every now and then._

* * *

_Title: Interruption_

_Rating: K plus, nothing bad. Just to be safe._

_Warnings: Nyan Cat Hatred?_

_Word Count: Around 1,300 Words_

_Setting and Other Notes: Pre-Salvage. Mount Justice. I'm guessing Jaime told Brenda and Paco his identity by this time._

_Summary: It was times like these that Jaime wished he could just pull the Scarab out of his spine._

* * *

"I'm just sayin'," Paco said from the other side of Jaime's cellphone, "it would be pretty cool if Batman had his own theme song. You know, like Pink Panther, with the 'du-dun, du-dun, du-duh-du-dun-dah-dun-dah-dun-"

_Your 'friend' is a fool. Why do you continue associating with such a-_

"Shut up!" Jaime screamed at himself. He just knew that one day, this Scarab is going to cause him a lot of misery. He heard the silence from his best friend, "_Lo siento_. Having another Scarab moment." He heard him sigh in relief and continued with their conversation, "Paco, I met _the_ Batman already. I know we all joked about him before, but he really is terrifying. There is a huge chance that he knows what we are talking about and I would get in trouble for it later." He groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "How on earth did we even get here? All I wanted to know was today's Bio homework. Is that too much, _ese_?"

"Yeah, kinda is." Then Jaime heard Brenda screaming from what seemed like a distance. Paco snickered, "Gotta go. Oh, you should definitely search the Nyan Cat. Good inspiration. We'll start with the tune tomorrow, okay? Then we fanmail it to the Bats and-"

Jaime snapped his phone. He swore that Paco has a bigger chance of killing him compared to all the other villains he fought before. Still, he better search this 'Nyan Cat' or else he would complain. He googled it and saw this weird thumbnail of a cat. Man, that was a lot of views, must be it he reasoned. He moved his mouse and clicked play.

The music began to play. It sounded something not even Milagro would listen to. He stared at the screen. That thing. What…what was it? He then stared down at the views. Roughly a hundred fifty _million_ hits. Who on earth could even stand this? He didn't even last for a minute.

_That…what kind of an abomination is that? Can it even be destroyed? Because it would be best for an annoying creature like that to be destroyed._

For the first time in his life, he agreed with the Scarab. He wanted to destroy the thing. That had to be the worst video he has ever seen. Who on earth would want to watch a cat – could it even be called a cat? It has a pop tart for a body – flying in space, pooping a rainbow, and going 'meowmeowmeow' for the entire trip? That song, ugh, that must be the worst song ever.

"Oh my gosh!" Cassie squealed as she entered the living room.

He turned around to greet her, "Hola Cas-" but was pushed away rather harshly from the computer. He landed wrongly on his right shoulder and groaned. Ouch, that did not feel nice at all. He rubbed it as he got up, "Nice seeing you." He mumbled.

The blond seemed oblivious to the boy's pain and was busy 'fan-girling', as Wonder Woman would say, over the computer. She pointed to the flying cat with the biggest grin he had ever seen, "I can't believe you're watching the Nyan Cat! This was my favorite video when I was kid!"

"Yeah, can't believe I'm watching it too." He observed her reaction. Wow, he knew that Cassie was a very giddy girl, but never did he know that happiness can make a person seem…drunk? The way she was laughing over such a stupid video made him worried. "What do you see in this video? I can't get it."

She then gave a horrible gasp as if he were the demon. Jaime tensed a bit. Uh oh. What did he say wrong? She then shook her head in disappointment. "Jaime, are you one of them?"

He scratched the back of his head, "_¿Q-que? _Cassie, you're kinda scaring me."

She sighed and looked away from him, "And here I thought you were a cool guy."

"Oh, come on Cas-" He tried to defend himself.

"No." She held her hand out, telling him to stop, "You just lost your privilege to call me that."

He felt his face flush. He was so confused. What was she talking about? "I don't even know what you're talking about Cassie." His voice was soft.

"You're a nyan cat hater, aren't you?" If this had been said by anyone else, he would have laughed. But Cassie's tone made his skin crawl. It sounded like she was ready to kill. Sure, the cat was annoying, but he didn't exactly hate it.

_But you just said that you would like to destroy it_.

"_¡Callate!_ You're not helping me." He told the Scarab. Or to Cassie, it looked like he was screaming at himself.

"Look, you could talk to your imaginary friends all you want, but you're dealing with me. And all I want is an honest answer." She cracked her knuckles, glaring at him in the process.

He gulped and tried to break away from her gaze, but he was too scared to do so. "I don't necessarily hate it. I just don't like it, okay?" He said quickly and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a giggle. He opened his eyes and saw Cassie trying to hold in a smile. She lost though and began laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh gods." She was on the floor, "You looked like you were going to pee yourself!" She then snorted. She stopped and covered her mouth. There was a sudden silence between them. She looked at Jaime and turned as red as a tomato.

It was Jaime's turn to laugh. He fell on his knees and couldn't stop. Cassie pouted, "J-jeez. It was not that funny."

He tried to recover, but a big smile was still plastered on his face, "S-sorry. I just found it-" He stopped himself before he said cute. He cleared his throat, his face feeling warm again, "I just like the sound of it."

She rolled her eyes, but she was back to her smiling self, "Of course you did." She then looked back at the screen, "So why were you looking at the Nyan Cat?"

"Oh, it's another Paco thing." He shrugged, "He thinks Batman should have a theme song and that the Nyan Cat would be a 'perfect' source of inspiration."

"What could you get with a nyah?" Cassie asked, "Nyah is associated with cats. Maybe if we go with na."

"So what? His theme song would go like 'nanananana-'"

"Batman!" Cassie quickly added. They looked at each other for a moment. It was so wrong…yet it was so right. It actually made sense. They began to laugh again. After a while, he looked at her and noticed just how amazing she was. She was literally beaming. He could just take a photo of this moment and keep it to warm him up whenever he had a bad day.

"Hey, Jaime. Whatcha starin' at?" Cassie gave him a curious look.

Crap. He caught her.

_Detecting high levels of hormones. If this girl discovers it, your life can be threatened. Initiating sonic cannon-_

"**No!**" He said rather harshly, then noticed Cassie's uncomfortable glance, "I-I mean, nothing. I was just thinking about something."

_You were thinking about her_.

It took all his willpower to ignore the Scarab. Cassie frowned, "Sorry to disturb it then." Her cellphone began to beep. "Gotta meet Wonder Woman. Bye." Though her tone sounded softer than usual. He was not sure if he imagined it, but there was a layer of hurt in between it. She walked towards the Zeta Beam and was gone.

_Is something wrong?_

"Nope. Just ruining a potential relationship with a girl whom I really like, that's all."

…_Is that something bad?_

He groaned and went back to his Biology homework, "_**Yes.**"_ His voice had an icy edge towards it, "Now do me a favor and leave me **alone**." And with that, he shut out the Scarab's voice for the rest of the day.

* * *

_End Notes: Yeah, I had no idea how to wrap this up. It all just came up to me spontaneously. Sorry for crap ending :l_

_And I believe that by 2016, the Nyan Cat could have that many views o3o (It's on YouTube if you haven't seen it)_

_**EDITED ON 7/15/2012 **(Thanks to Brock's Geodude for pointing out my mistakes, this is what I get for writing at eleven P.M.)  
_


	2. Whatevering

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I really __appreciate it. Big kudos to Brock's Geodude for pointing out my errors. And if you don't know the Nyan Cat, well, YouTube would be able to solve it. Just be prepared, you may either love or hate it._

* * *

_Title: Whatevering_

_Rating: T_

_Warnings: Whatevering. Kinda descriptive whatevering in here …_

_Setting and Other Notes: One year after Invasion (2017). El Paso. Again, whatevering. This was written purely for me to practice writing whatevering. Warning you now, I had no idea what I created o_O. Oh, and also very, very minor spoilers for Amazing Spiderman._

_Word Count: Around 2,000 Words_

_Summary: Confused about her feelings for Jaime, she could not handle his nonsense anymore. Just what on earth did he mean by whatevering?_

* * *

Cassie drummed her fingers as she waited by the bus stop. It was five minutes past five, meaning the bus should be here any minute now. She checked her bag and made sure all her things were in there. Okay, Biology book, check. Gummi bears, check. The Amazing Spiderman on DVD, check. Two sets of clothes, check. Great, she was ready to spend the night in the Reyes' household.

Except, she wasn't. Not mentally at least. Her mind kept flying back to last Saturday night in Mount Justice. It was not fair, she had no idea Zatanna placed the truth spell on her. She felt her phone vibrating in her jacket pocket and answered it, "Oh, hi Jaime. I'm by the bus stop you told me about. I'm just waiting for a bus."

"Oh, that's good to hear. There's a bus heading your way, I'll see you in a few." And the line went flat. Cassie looked at the road and, in fact, did see a bus heading her way. She boarded it and dug through her pockets to find spare change. Wait, hold on. How on earth did Jaime know a bus was heading her way? A person then dropped money into the fare box.

"J-Jaime!" She stuttered. He gave her a warm smile and seemed pleased with her reaction. They sat down together and she noticed the way he was looking at her, "J-jeez. What are you staring at?"

He shrugged, his smile still in place, "Nothing. Just wondering why exactly you became red when you saw me."

Oh gods, he was doing it. She turned away to the window, looking at the passing buildings, "Are you going to do this again?" She hissed at him.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said coolly. "All I just remember is what you said that night and-"

"Please." Her cheeks were burning, "Stop. We can talk about this later." She tried to keep her voice calm, but her voice kept getting higher and higher.

Jaime sighed sadly but nodded. He gave her a brown paper bag filled with something warm, "Its _empenadas._ My mom made them for you. Unfortunately you won't see them until later at night. This is my mom's way of apologizing. So you're mom has this big convention thing until Sunday?"

She nodded. Yeah, it was the annual archeologist convention, so Cas was going to spend her weekend in the Cave. But no one was going to be there for a variety of reasons ranging from college to missions, so Jaime offered her to stay in his house. She was grateful for it. She met the Reyes family before, and she was really excited for this. Then last week happened. She tried to shake the memory away and opened the paper bag. The smell just knocked her out. "Man, this smells good!"

She finished the _empenadas_ as soon as they reached Jaime's house. Yes, she was that freaked out about that night. She wasn't thinking straight. All she wanted to do was forget. Forget it all happened. But just looking at his face brought it all back.

Cassie played with her hair as he opened the door. Okay, he was opening the door, which meant that they were going to be alone in the house. Alone? "Hey Jaime, didn't you tell me you have a sister?"

He nodded as he pushed the door open, "Yeah, but it's her friend's birthday, so it's us for now."

Us. She noticed the way his lips were curled on the sides. He was doing this on purpose. This was his way of getting revenge, wasn't it?

She set her bag on the coffee table and sat on the sofa. He sat beside her and they were like that for a while. Not talking, not even looking at each other. They just sat beside each other, and his presence was enough to drive her to insanity. Finally, she gave an awkward cough, "So, what do you think we should do first? Homework or movie?"

"Well, if you get homework done, then we don't have to worry about it later." He offered. She nodded and pulled up her book.

She went to the folded page and showed it to Jaime, "So I'm not getting the punnett square. Well, I mean, I do, but it's the dihybrid cross. I need some help here."

"Oh, it's simple." He then began drawing the square and began to explain the concept of how there is a nine-to-sixteen possibility that all dominant traits would be passed, a six-to-sixteen chance it would be mixed, and a one-to-sixteen chance that the offspring would receive all recessive genes.

When she asked whether or not she understood, she shook her head. Jaime nodded and was about to explain again until he froze, "_Dios mio_. That must be the worst thing you have ever said." Then he looked at Cassie, looking slightly embarrassed, "Erm, you wouldn't want to know…."

Then he did an example for her. Slightly grasping the concept, Cassie decided to do the problems her teacher assigned to her. Jaime watched with a patient eye and told her to check a problem again if she was wrong. Along the way he said, "So Cassie. About last week," She gulped. Of course it was coming. Her cheeks became a deep red and she concentrated on her work. He continued, "So which is true? Truth or dare?"

No. No, no, no. So there was the Team, playing a game of truth or dare. When they play, Zee always places a truth spell. She joined in kind of late, but she heard when Jaime said he did like her. In truth, when she was still not under Zatanna's spell, she was asked whether or not she liked Jaime, to which she said no rather quickly. Then later in dare, she and Zatanna were in a private room. Zatanna dared her to tell her what she thought about him. Cassie thought it would be an easy dare since she thought she wasn't under the spell. Keyword was thought, so she spilled the entire truth. Or what she thought was the truth. She remembered the words so clearly:

_I do like him. He's Jaime, what's there not to like? He's honest and brave. He's also a very good friend. One of my closests if not __**the**__ closest. In fact, this may sound weird, but I like-like him. I dunno. He's just so sweet and cute and adorkable. I wish I could tell him, but he's gonna laugh. It would be nice if he didn't though. _

Ugh, she was stupid. She sounded drunk. Maybe that was what it was. Zatanna would make everyone so high to the point they would just tell the truth. So that would explain the heavy headaches the next morning. At this point, she couldn't even decipher her feelings about him anymore.

Then the worst part happened, the magician recorded it all. Apparently it was Batgirl's 'grand scheme' or something. To make things worse, the Team didn't know whether she was telling the truth, since Zee pulled her away before telling her the dare. They could assume that she was just forced to say it all. All Cassie knew it was causing her misery.

She shut her book shut and grabbed the DVD, "There done. Look, can we just watch this?"

"Uh, sure." But she noticed the disappointed look on his face. He placed the DVD in the player and turned on the TV. He then shut off the curtains, not that there was much light. He grabbed the remote and sat a little closer than Cassie's comfort zone. She pulled out her gummi bears and shared it with him as he pressed play.

The movie went on as usual. They laughed as Peter couldn't control his powers, breaking everything in sight. Then came the tiny knife comment. Cassie howled in laughter, she forgot that part. It's a good thing she wasn't in the Cave, or else the Team would think she was a big nerd. Being in a team full of superhero teenagers, they discovered something to add in their rather short list of commonalities: they both liked superhero movies. Apparently everyone else thought that Marvel movies had nothing compared to what the real world has, but the two appreciated it anyways. That's how this little date of theirs was even thought off-

Wait. Date? Great. Even her own mind was betraying her.

As soon as they reached the part where Gwen and Peter began to make-out, Jaime chuckled. Cassie gave him a confused look, "Scarab telling you something?" she asked. Then her voice went low, "Or are you thinking about last-"

He shook his head as he paused the movie, "Nah. Just remembered how Conner began to use whatevering when L'gann and Megan were in front of him, doing...whatever."

"Wait. What's whatevering?"

A smirk appeared on his face, "You wouldn't want to know."

She pouted, "Oh come on Jaime, no need to be so secretive."

"Oh really?" He lifted an eyebrow, "If I remember correctly, you're the one who's being secretive with me. All I want to know is whether you said was true or not. Especially the adorkable part. Never heard that before."

Then she thought of a compromise, "Show me whatevering is, then I _might _tell you."

A devious grin appeared on his face, "Deal, but close your eyes."

She was cautious, but when she saw that there were no bad intentions in his eyes, she decided to obey. There was nothing at first. She didn't feel or hear anything at all.

"No, whatevering does not mean destroying." She heard him argue with himself. "Yes, Conner may had 'intentions on hurting the fish creature', but that is not whatevering!"

"Jaime? Should this wait or-"

"No, sorry." There was silence again. She was about to open one eye when suddenly she felt something soft on her lips. Then she realized it was his lips. She nearly had a meltdown then and there. She moaned in shock, she was supposed to push him away so hard he could possibly break a couple of bones, but instead she fell into his clutches.

His lips were warm. It felt completely foreign to her. It scared and excited her at the same time. She couldn't believe how much joy she was getting out of this. Then it became clear to her. She really does like him. Slowly, she began to return the kiss. She was trembling. The euphoria she was feeling was incredible. It gnawed her stomach, begging for more. Her arms snaked around his neck, deepening their kiss. Her blood felt like it was burning, and she enjoyed every bit of it.

She felt his hands cup her face. They felt very cold, or maybe it was her cheeks feeling warm. It didn't matter. She enjoyed his touch. He then began to lean into her. She hated being dominated, but her mind was too broken to fight back. Soon, he was on top of her. He was pressing all his weight on her, not that she minded. She liked the pressure and decided to return some of it. Her hands then clutched tightly on his hair. He gave a hot groan and fought against her. It was intense as the two fought for dominance. Her body felt extremely hot at this point. She didn't want to lose...yet she wouldn't mind if she did.

It was only when they thought they heard a beeping sound that they stopped. They quickly looked around, making sure no one was there. They were both breathing heavily. Finally, their gazes returned to each other. They didn't have to say a word. There was a complete understanding between them. They remained like that for a while, in awe of just each other.

"Well, that's whatevering for you." He said with a shy smile. She giggled and touched his cheek.

"And, well, that is how I feel about you." She gave him a light peck on his lips. She saw the longing his eyes and felt the desire to fill it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and was about to kiss him again until they heard something drop.

Jaime's head whipped towards the door, "_Milagro!_" He growled. Cassie quickly pushed him aside and felt numb. His little sister was redder than anything she has seen before.

"You didn't open the door, so I entered and found you..._whatevering_." The girl tried to shrug it off and ran up the stairs, but not without warning, "Jaime, if I have a niece, we all know where it began!"

And so, the next two hours was spent convincing the Scarab how they were not going that far (yet) because it was spouting threats of destroying Cassie then and there. Strangely, this just made her like him even more.

* * *

_End Notes: __**I REGRET NOTHING! **_

_(Oh, and Amazing Spiderman was amazing in my opinion. Saw the make-out scene and thought "That could be my WonderBeetle." *gets shot*)_

_Alright, first story with Wonderbeetle makeout! (What's wrong with me?) I could have made something so much better, but all my feels…have you seen that new Invasion trailer? It was beautiful ;_;. And WonderBeetle has now hit the iceberg with it…_

_(I mean, I feel that if Cas would get a boyfriend, there is an 85% chance that it would be Conner. 15% Tim. And now people are thinking about shipping Cas and Virgil…)_

_UNLESS BLUE WILL SAVE CAS AND VIRGIL FROM BLACK BEETLE. THAT IS MY NEW HEADCANON. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE IF JAIME WOULD GO WITH CAS TO SAVE THE RUNAWAYS. TYE IS THERE AND SO WOULD BLACK BEETLE. HE HAS TO BE THERE! IF THIS DOES HAPPEN, I COULD DIE IN HAPINESS_

_(goes crying in a corner, I know I am going to be in a lot of pain once Cas and Conner kiss ;_;)_


	3. Fanaa: Promise

_A/N: Big thanks to all those who added this to their favorites and reviewed this. On a side note,, it warms my heart that people like my other WonderBeetle stories. Just shows how strong this ship is growing. _

_Title: Promise_

_Rating: T_

_Warnings: Nothing major. Just wanted to play it safe. _

_Word Count: Around 2,000 words_

_Setting and Other Notes: February 2017. Mount Justice. AU._

_Summary: Stuck on an alien ship, Jaime realized the only way to save Cassie and the rest of the Team was to destroy it from its core. Even though it may end with his timely demise, he still promises her that he would make it out alive. The question now is: would he be able to keep it?_

* * *

**Fanaa**

(noun) destruction of the self; "destroyed in love"

* * *

"Hey Blue," Cassie said cheerfully as she entered the living room. Of course she knew it was him, the TV was playing some Spanish drama that only he could understand. She could understand a couple of words, such as 'hello', 'I love you.', and 'Shut up, you idiot!', courtesy of Jaime constantly saying that to the Scarab. She smiled and sat on one side of the couch. She propped the popcorn bowl she was carrying between them.

She eyed him, "The least you could say is thank you." Then he did. She smiled and grabbed a mouthful of popcorn.

"You know. I'm glad that the Invasion is over. I know it's been over five months since it ended, but it felt like it lasted forever. You know what I mean?" She felt him nodding and continued, "Man, that Black Beetle scared me. Glad you came into save the day."

She heard him mutter some Spanish in embarrassment and pouted, "Oh come on Jaime, you deserve some credit. Me and Virgil would have been toast if it weren't for you. Speaking of Virgil, we finally convinced him to go home. He said he'd take a break from the hero business for a while. I miss him."

She noticed the way he was quiet and smirked. "Are you jealous?" He rolled his eyes and began to laugh. She adored his laugh. It was hard to make him laugh, but when he does, it sounded like he was dying, in a funny way. It was so infectious and made her insides feel warm. She loved it.

"Cassie." A tired voice mumbled through the hallway. She looked behind her and saw Barbara giving her a worried look. The blonde's smile melted away. It was like a bucket of freezing water had just been dumped on her. Batgirl gave a pained expression. She wheeled towards her. Wheeled. Oh gods. Don't look Cas. But she did. Memories of the Invasion flooded her head.

* * *

_Five months earlier…._

* * *

"You okay?" Blue asked as he reentered the Bioship. Cassie nodded as she sat on the floor. They had just defeated a group of Reach soldiers who were trying to stop them from leaving earth. Their mission was to go to the Reach's ship and destroy it before it reaches Earth. However, they haven't even left the atmosphere and they were exhausted already. He gave her a worried look and sat beside her. "Did that wear you down, or…is something else bothering you?"

She sucked in a deep breath. She couldn't tell him. She was Wonder Girl for crying out loud. But they have grown so close this past months that the least she could do was be honest, "I'm…scared." His eyes widened at that, but he said nothing. She sighed, "I mean, here we are, going to stop an alien race from invading earth. You, me, Rob, Virgil, and Speedy. W-we're not like Nightwing or Babs or Conner. We've only been in this business for a year at the most. We're going straight into their base, with who knows how many more soldiers. I-I-I just-"

Cassie felt his hand wrap around hers. He squeezed it and closed his eyes, "I'm scared too, _guera_. Look, if you're feeling scared, you amongst all the people I know, you can imagine how I feel about this. But it could be a lot worse. I could have been doing this alone. I'm supposed to. The Reach is my business. I shouldn't have dragged you guys into this."

"Don't say that! Jaime, you didn't drag any of us into this. We came here because we wanted this war to end. The thing I'm worried about is…death. I don't mind dying, but what if Virgil dies. He still hasn't returned to his family. Or Speedy. Speedy just woke up last March. Or Rob. Can you imagine how Nightwing would react? Well, I wasn't there when Jason was, but it would be terrible for him. Or…_you_." Her voice cracked. "I don't know how I would react if you…."

The thought was too painful to even consider. They were silent for a few minutes.

"It isn't going to happen." He finally said, "Look, we maybe the Beta Squad. The freshmen. But we're a team. I'm sure no one is going to let anyone die. I'm sure I wouldn't let any of you die." His hand was still intertwined to hers. Just his touch made her feel just a bit safe. "Especially you. I'll go to drastic measures if it came to that."

Whatever fears she had was erased. She believed him. Only he had that effect on her. Was it because he was so honest? Or was it that she trusted him that much? Without much thought, she leaned forward and meet his lips. She felt him gasp, but slowly return it. It was cold at first, but she felt his armor contract and felt the warmth of his lips. The action soothed her. It made her forget that there was even a war going on. All she could feel was him. It was only him and her in their own little world. It felt like nothing could stop her. That they would win against the Reach.

She pulled away and looked at him. She watched the armor form back on his face. He smirked at her, "What was that, _guera_?"

"A reason to stay alive." She smiled shyly. While she did say it to him, the reason was more for herself. If there was a good reason not to lose it, beside her mother and the whole Earth, was because of him. She was not going to die.

* * *

_Later..._

* * *

She felt like she could just drift into sleep at any moment. In fact, sleep sounded great. So comforting, so peaceful. She needed a break from this war. Sleep. Rest. Peace. That's all she wanted.

"Cassie!" A worried voice ripped through her head. Her eyes fluttered opened, then she groaned from the sharp pain that stabbed her in the skull. She looked up and saw his worried orange eyes. What was going on- Oh right, he was carrying her away from the soldiers of the Reach. She gave a weak nod to tell him that she was still okay. But in truth, she wasn't, and they both knew that. She rested her head on his chest and could hear his heart beating at a rapid rate.

She noticed how weak she was tried to concentrate on other things. The dried blood on her forehead irritated her, but she was too weak to even push it away.

The next few moments were a big blur to her. She felt him set her down. Then she watched him pull out blue prints of the enemy's bomb out of thin air. She observed her surroundings and noticed they were at the entrance of the ship. Jaime began to talk to the Scarab. He argued with it, she never heard that tone before. It sounded...angry. Sure, he gets a little sassy when ticked off, but here he sounded menacing. It made her tremble. Then it grew solemn.

Finally he carried her again and started talking about stuff. It was fragmented in her mind, like how he still had a Biology project that he had not started on, a self-destruct button being broken, something about his family, Artemis being alive – though she was too tired to be shocked, and finally how grateful he was to meet her. That part was as clear as day to her.

"You're one of the coolest girls I've ever met." She noticed they were near the Bioship at this point. He chuckled at himself, "You made me feel little more than a guy who was at the wrong place at the right time. You made me feel like I could be part of the hero community. That I could actually do something to change lives. I had. I saved lives. You encouraged me that the Scarab wasn't as bad as I thought, and that I could be strong too. It surprised me even more to discover you had actually liked me." His voice dipped, but she swore she knew he was smiling, "I owe you so much. _Gracias. Te quiero, Cassie._ Just wait for me. I promise I'll make it back." She felt his soft lips on her forehead.

"I will." Her voice was weak, "Don't worry. I promise I'll wait."

She saw him smile. Then he muttered something else and felt someone else carry her.

She was brought inside the Bioship by Robin. She saw Impulse, Speedy, Virgil inside it too. Robin strapped her in and went to the control seat. He lifted the Bioship and flew away from the Reach's ship.

This seemed to have snapped Cassie. "W-wait. R-Rob. J-Jaime is still-"

"He knows what he's doing." He told her calmly. She looked at her teammate's expressions. They didn't seem as sure as he did. She began to unstrap herself, but fell as soon as she stood up. Impulse quickly caught her.

"Whoa. Blue specifically told us to make sure we get you home safely." The speedster told her as he propped her back into her seat.

"Now." Speedy said out of nowhere. Bart quickly rushed back to his seat. Whatever headache she was having could not compare to what she faced there. Robin pushed to Bioship to its limit, causing it to fly faster than what she was used to. She saw a light shining behind them. She realized that the ship had exploded. How could it? There wasn't any bombs-

Oh gods. That self-destruct button. He didn't….

She turned around and prayed that she would see a certain blue person flying beside them, but she saw nothing.

"TURN BACK!" She shrieked. She felt her broken rib poke her and fell back to her seat.

"Don't worry Cas. Blue said he'd know how to escape." Virgil said. But this did nothing to soothe her. After the bomb exploded, they turned around to see if Blue Beetle had made it.

"Where is he?" She demanded. This time no one had an answer. She looked desperately at Robin, whose poker face was slowly crumbling away. They waited. They searched the area. They searched twice, and then thrice. And yet they found nothing. Not even debris. That bomb was designed to wipe everything it touches.

"Wonder Girl," Robin's voice was low, "There is a chance that-"

She shook her head, "No. No, no, no. Robin. He promised me that he would come back. He doesn't make any promises unless he knows he could fulfill it."

"I know. He sounded so confident when he told us he would make it. Though with an explosion like that, plus enemies that knows how to control the Scarab, we might have to consider that he's…gone." His voice was barely audible when he said the last word.

The tears fell down her cheeks, "He's gone? Just like that? Dead." She repeated the last word to herself. "Dead." She then gave a horrible cry. No matter how much her body begged her to stop pushing its limit, it didn't compare to how she was torn inside. He wouldn't be there anymore. He wouldn't be there to make her laugh and smile. Her Friday evenings watching Spanish soaps with him would no longer be possible. He was the one who made her realize that it was okay to make mistakes. He made her embrace her human side, Cassie Sandsmark. And Cassie needed him. No…he was…dead.

_"No, I am not going to leave her. She is not deadweight."_ She remembered his argument as he was observing the blue prints. That was when his voice was so intimidating, it scared her, _"I can make it and still save her."_

The Scarab was telling him not to save her, because it knew this would be the end result. Yet he still did.

She felt the pit of her stomach eat her alive. It was her fault he died.

* * *

_Now..._

* * *

She felt Barbara's arms around her shoulders. Cassie wept. Five months since the Invasion had ended. Five months since Jaime had been gone. She hasn't been in the right mind since then. She was mentally and physically weaker than before. She missed him so much. Only one thing kept her going.

_"Just wait for me. I promise I'll make it back." _

Jaime was a man of his word. She would not give Cassie hope only to crush it by unexpected death. He would only say those words if he were a hundred and ten percent sure he would come back.

So even though she was most likely beating herself up for believing he could still be alive, she didn't doubt him.

He was Jaime after all. A teenager who had learned to control one of the universe's deadliest weapons, which was probably a one in a million event. If he could do that, then he could escape an explosion like it was nothing.

Or so she hoped.

* * *

_End Notes: Hooray for Virgil and real Roy cameo. I apologize for any OoC-ness. Robin barely had any screentime. Never watched Static Shock. And I have no clue as to how real Roy would act. Erm, R&R? (I know, crap ending is crap...)_

_**EDITED ON: 7/24/2012 **(Just fixed some errors and changed bits of the stories. Nothing drastic) Added the overall title for this story. I thought it was really appropriate. Source: other-worldly tumblr, brilliant site by the way.  
_


	4. Fanaa: Valentine's Day

_A/N: So. So. Happy. You guys are awesome, you know? Seriously, to all my beautiful reviewers, you are my motivators. Favorites and followers are greatly appreciated too, but reviews just have something special in it. You guys even changed my initial idea of this chapter. So here's a challenge: I'm planning to write a family fic later on. I need ideas for their kids' names. I need a good reason too. Looking forward to what you got. So without further ado, I present to you the sequel. _

_Title: Valentine's Day_

_Rating: T _

_Warnings: Erm... this is not what you expect it to be? _

_Word Count: Around 2,300 Words_

_Setting and Other Notes: Valentine's Day. Mount Justice. AU. A continuation to 'Promise'. **OH, kind of important:** I made a minor change to chapter three. It's in the promise scene. Might wanna read it because it would play a sort-of big role here. And I made 'Fanaa' the overall title for this story since I found it very appropriate (definition in chapter three). Going to do this to all my non-one-shots from now on._

_Summary: Jamie and Cassie's first Valentine's Day was spent in the Cave learning about each other. It was fun and helped them discover something about themselves. Now a year later, five months after Jaime's death, just how different could it be? Continuation of the previous chapter._

* * *

_February 14, 2016_

* * *

Jaime wandered around the Cave. It was Valentine's Day. The time of love. A holiday dedicated to those in love. And of course, it was to rub it in the faces of singles just how lonely they were. Which included him. He sighed sadly. It was not like he wanted to be lonely. Nope, must definitely not. It was just because of-

_It is better to be lonely than rather dedicate your time to someone who could be a threat. Have you even considered the possibilities that could happen when you let in a stranger in your life and-_

Yeah, that guy. Whenever he tried to talk to a girl, and she actually seemed interested, the Scarab would go rogue on him and try to attack her with the plasma cannon. It was even getting more creative, like make his arms into blades so he couldn't hide it for example. Because of the many times this had happened, all the girls in his neighborhood knew to steer clear of him.

He walked by the TV and turned it on. He switched the channel to his favorite Spanish soaps. What was he doing? Most of his soaps consisted of romance! Man, he was hopeless.

_No, you are not. I am only waiting for a compatible partner for you._

"Pfft, _sí claro_." He rolled his eyes, "You're not even giving me a chance to get to know any of these 'partners'. You're an idiot."

"Heya Jaime." A sweet voice greeted him. He jumped slightly and turned around to see Cassie. He blushed. Did she hear anything he said? Well, if she brings it up, he'll be honest. But ignorance is bliss, so if she doesn't know, then better leave it as that.

"_Hola guera._" He waved.

She pouted, "You always call me that. I can't tell if it means anything bad. Does it?"

He shook his head quickly, before she got any ideas, "Of course not! It basically means a girl with blonde hair, light skin, and blue eyes. Which matches you perfectly, does it not?" Then he wore a warm smile, "I will never call you anything bad."

She couldn't help but give a shy smile. Why? She would never know. He noticed she was wearing her civvies. "Hmm, rare to see you like that." He told her. She gave him a confused expression and looked at herself.

"Well, it's not like we're going to be given any missions today. Karen is finally making up her missed dates with Mal. Megan and L'gann went to Sea World and brought Gar along with them. Conner is busy angsting around, I bet he's with that Kent family he's talking about. Nightwing and Babs had to 'patrol' Gotham, along with Tim. But I'm guessing patrol means something else to those two, if you get my gist." She chuckled as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.

He shook his head at that. Those two should just find a room already. Jaime then noticed something important. He can't believe he only realized it now. "Wait, don't you have a date?"

"Why would you ask that?" She asked as she sat beside him. "You want?" She held the popcorn out. He nodded and grabbed a mouthful.

"Well. I jus dought dat you woul-" He paused and took a deep swallow. This made her laugh. He felt his face flush and continued, "I just thought that someone like you would have a date on a day like this. You know, Valentine's Day. _Catorce de Febrero._"

"Someone like me?" What did he mean? There was nothing special about her. "If you don't mind explaining, I would like define 'someone like me'."

Jaime scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well. You're Cassie. You actually listen to what 'us guys' have to say, which most of us want from girls. Plus, you're interested in what most guys like, such as sports and video games. Also there's the fact you're pretty, funny, strong, smart, brave, and other things I can't think of right now. Basically a very cool girl. I mean, I would have, just saying, _guera_."

She was stunned at that. He would have asked her out? He did not even mention the part that she was Wonder Girl. He was just telling her the qualities that make her, Cassandra Sandsmark. She saw the most sincere look in his eyes. He really meant every word of it. She gave a weak smile, "Now only if you told that to my ex."

"_¿Q-que?_ _Imposible_." He looked regretful, "I'm sorry I brought it up. I just can't believe someone would dump _you_."

"And who said he dumped me?" She tried to smirk, but all he saw was pain, "I dumped him. He's a two-timer and a jerk. Said I didn't give him enough time, even though I tried to give as much as I could. He even knew about me being Wonder Girl and yet I find him kissing this senior..." She gave a heavy sigh, "How about you? Why aren't you out?"

He could tell she was changing the subject. He decided that she gave him more than enough information and decided to go along with it, "Think about it, would you want to spend this day with a schizophrenic guy?"

"I already am." She teased, but she knew he wanted a serious answer, "So wait, you are schizo?"

His eyes widened. Great, why would he even say that? She was Cassie. _The_ Wonder Girl, who has been personally trained by _the _Wonder Woman. And yet, he could be completely himself around her. Himself, huh? If he wanted to be himself, then he had to be honest. He shook his head. She raised an eyebrow, "Then what is it then?"

He motioned her to come closer. She obeyed and sat beside him. He slowly removed his sweater, so he was only wearing his black shirt. He turned around so she was seeing his back, "You see that?"

She then gasped. There it was in plain sight. A blue bug thing attached to his back.

"It's the Scarab. The one that gives me the powers. Belonged to Ted Kord. Kinda stuck to my spine, so there's no way to get it off. It's also…alive." He gave a heavy breathe, letting her take in the information. "And not only that, it's rather homicidal. Which is why you hear me argue with myself a lot. Right now, the Scarab is telling me three different ways to kill you since 'you know too much'. Trust me, none of it even sounds like a quick death."

And now it made sense. Why he always seem to lack control of his powers. Why he would always argue with himself. There was someone else living in his mind, someone who was not as nice as him.

"Wow, that's..." But she was having trouble finding the words.

"Come on. I got used to the comments from the others. No need to hold back." There was a twinge of hurt in his voice.

She noticed it and held his hand. She didn't know why. Maybe she could understand. Understand the pain of being judged because you can't tell anyone anything. Just look at her and her ex. Hell, she even told him three months ago. He said no words, but he showed his intentions through actions. It wasn't her fault that she was busy, she was really doing it for a greater cause. So it wasn't his fault he got the Scarab, or so she heard. It wasn't his fault he says mean comments out of nowhere. He really was just trying to keep his inner demon at bay. "I find it admirable."

"What?" He just stared at her in disbelief.

"Look, I never had a bloodthirsty voice in my head, but I'm not sure if I could handle it. And if I could, I'd go crazy. You, beside your arguments with the Scarab, are a really sweet guy. I would have never guessed it. Maybe you had imaginary friends, but that was it. You were just given this without even knowing it and fight it every day. That must take a lot of strength."

Jaime then had the most ridiculous smile. It was the first time anyone complemented him about the Scarab. "Well, it still wants me to eliminate you."

She sighed, "Look, Scarab sir, I may be the daughter of Zeus, but I would never hurt Jaime. I promise. In fact, wouldn't it be better to have me as an ally? Let's have a deal, you don't kill you and I'll help him in whatever way I can."

_This 'wonderful' person is telling the truth….Fine, no action shall be done as long as she keeps her word._

Just like that? That's surprising. "C-congratulations. It accepts your deal."

"Phew. Here I thought you would pull up a cannon in front of my face. "Her cellphone rung, "Gimme a second. It's my mom." She went towards the kitchen. He watched her. He mentally slapped himself. Don't just stare at her, he finally got the Scarab situation cleared with her, he doesn't need to look like a stalker. She noticed him and gave a warm smile.

He felt something churn in his stomach. What was that feeling? It felt weird, yet he liked it. Well, whatever that was, it didn't matter because he realized something quite radical.

Jaime finally agreed on one thing with the Scarab. She was wonderful.

* * *

_February 14, 2017_

* * *

Jaime groaned as he woke up. His head was pounding. All he remembered was destroying the Reach's master control, which in turn destroyed the ship. He looked around and noticed he was in a beach. It was familiar though.

_The only beach you have been to is the one in Happy Harbor_.

Well that made things a lot easier. He walked towards the Cave and heard that familiar voice. "Recognized. Blue Beetle. B22."

He entered and found a stampede heading his way. He tried to run away, but Gar gave him a massive bear hug. No, literally, he turned into a bear and fell flat on him."_Oi_, you're heavy _hermano._"

"It really is you!" Impulse zipped beside him. "This is so crash!"

"Of course, _ese_. Who else would it be?" He smirked.

Nightwing walked towards the boys, but even his surprise can't be masked, "Blue, what happened to you?"

"Haha, blue and you. That rhymed. Way to crash the mode, chief." Bart commented.

Jaime ignored the speedster's question and answered, "What do you mean? I destroyed the master control of the ship, which activated the self-destruct system. Then the Scarab slipped into this space-time pocket, since it was the quickest escape, and brought me out after an hour or so. Then I landed on the beach."

"I think he meant the five months." Impulse said.

Jaime gave them a confused expression. "The Invasion started five months ago, right?"

Impulse and Gar gave each other a worried glance. Their leader rubbed his temples, "Jaime. How long were you in that space-time pocket you were talking about?"

"An hour. Maybe two at most." He answered, though he was growing anxious by the second.

"How should I say this? Jaime, the Invasion ended five months ago. It's February now. You've been assumed dead the entire time."

It took a couple of hours for the idea to sink in. Missing for five months? Then what did his family think. They must have been devastated. He was not sure if he wanted to return yet. He was scared about how they would react. He also missed school and missed out an important period in Brenda and Paco's life. Brenda was having the worst troubles yet with her father and Paco considered joining the Posse. And Cassie. He promised to return to her. They just revealed how they felt hours-

_You mean months. _

Months earlier. It was hours to him. Did she wait for him? Or did she-

"_Jaime_," Megan's voice ringed through his mind. Right. Megan was checking his mind whether anything had happened during his hour in the space-time pocket and he had to stay quiet.

"_Sorry. I know I'm supposed to-_"

"_No. I understand. It's a lot to handle. I'm supposed to apologize for interrupting your thoughts."_

_"I don't mind right now."_

_"Okay, that's good to hear. Anyways you need to know that Cassie did wait for you."_

She did? His heart made an extra beat. "_In fact, she still cries about your death. We all told her to move on, Robin especially, but she believed you were still alive. She never gave up on you. "_

Jaime was amazed by that. Really? She waited for him? Even if there were no traces when the explosion happened? He couldn't help but smile. It could have been worse, the more he thought about it. He could have appeared a year later. Maybe a decade or even a century. He could have even died in the space-time pocket.

"That's the spirit." Megan said to him. Suddenly, it was announced that Wonder Girl and Robin had returned. The Martian had a knowing smile, "If you want to see her, you can. I finished checking anyways."

He nodded and gave his thanks. Then he ran out of Megan's room and to the zeta tubes. He was so excited to see her. He wanted to apologize for making her wait. Then he wanted to hug her, for all the lost time, on her part at least. Then they could do whatever they wanted afterwards. It played perfectly in his mind.

That was, until he saw Cassie kissing Robin. Cassie. Robin. He didn't even make the first move. She did.

She kissed him.

He felt his soul crumble into tiny pieces. Cassie did let go of him. She moved on. It was selfish of him, but he couldn't handle it. When they parted, Cassie's eyes went towards his way. He saw the guiltiest look he had ever seen in his lifetime, "Jaime?"

"You promised." His voice cracked.

"Jaime." She had both her hands covering her mouth, "Wait!"

But it was too late. He had ran away. His heart was seething. There were tears streaming. His soul was crying.

He was being so selfish. She had every right to find a new person. She had every single damn right to find someone who could make her happy. She deserved happiness, especially the hell he must have put her through if what Megan had said was true.

No. No, no, no. He was doubting her. He wanted to scream. He wanted to scream at Megan for getting his hopes high, at Robin for stealing her, at Cassie for not keeping her word. But the worst part was he wanted to scream at himself. This was not like him. He was letting his emotions get the better of him. He did die after all. Dead people are not supposed to come back. Maybe it would have been better if he stayed dead. Five months was a long time. Everyone must have gotten over him. If Cassie did, then no doubt everyone else did.

He cursed as he exited the Cave. No doubt she would be chasing after him. It was in her nature after all. He considered stopping, he should let her explain herself. It was only right, and it might ease his pain. But his body refused. Instead, donning his armor, he dove in the ocean and swam into the darkness.

He had never felt so shattered before.

* * *

_End Notes: JAIME, BABY, I'M SORRY I DID THIS TO YOU! I SWEAR I'D MAKE IT UP TO YOU WITH A STORY ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY WITH CAS! __ヽ__(´0__｀。__)__ﾉ_

_Well, I never experienced having a breakup before [well, I never had a boyfriend to begin with…] but I figure it really messes you up. Which is why Jaime kept contradicting himself. Originally, I had not intended making him wishing he was dead. He still had his family and friends, I thought. But as Jaime said, if Cas could move on, then who's to say they didn't [I know they wouldn't, especially his parents, but Jaime wouldn't know] No…he didn't drown himself…in the first episode of Invasion, Jaime was shown breathing underwater without the thingy Robin had._

_Originally, I would have just started with February 2017, but you guys wanted something happy, so I did Feb 2016 too. But in return, I even made 2017 more brutal than intended XD_

_Before anyone cuts my throat, I promise this would have a conclusion. In fact, the conclusion was the first thing that I thought when I made this little story, so we might see a happy ending unless I decide to screw it up._

_On an unrelated note. Dark Knight Rises was awesome!_


	5. Fanaa: Explanation

_Title: Explanation_

_Rating: T_

_Warnings: Hee…well, I'm not so proud of it. I could have done better. Sorry if ending might disappoint._

_Word Count: About 2,400 words_

_Setting and Other Notes: Mount Justice. AU. _

_Summary: Cassie did not know Jaime was actually alive. She should have, but no. She had to go kiss Robin. Gods, she was so stupid. She had to explain to him that she was being foolish. That she never stopped thinking about him before…before the damage becomes permanent._

* * *

"Thanks for a fun time, Rob." Cassie smiled as they went out of the zeta tube. She had not experienced a feeling like this since Jaime.

He nodded, "Anytime. Look, I need to do something for Nightwing."

"Wait," she grabbed his hand. She needed to know if it was real. Well, it was real. He was the one who cared for her the most after all this time. It was clear he liked her. She saw the way he looked at her. It was the same look Jaime gave her. She made the move. He heard him gasp and generally felt uncomfortable. After five seconds, he pulled away.

Cassie opened her eyes and felt like the dumbest thing ever. Crap. What the hell was she doing? He was not Jaime, and she should have known better to use him. She saw the confused expression on his face, "I'm sorry, Rob. I didn't mean to-"

"Cassie, I'm sorry." She heard him whisper. "I know you liked Jaime. It's obvious you still do. I shouldn't have-"

Her eyes trailed to the left and then, "Jaime." She clasped her mouth and felt the world fall on her shoulder. No, this had to be an illusion. A trick to make herself feel even worse.

"You promised." His voice broke. Nope, it was definitely him. Then he ran. Cassie fell to her knees and felt her tears fall down. That was surprising, she thought after five months of mourning that she would be dried up. But her tears now were the worst she's ever experienced. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You have to go after him." Robin told her, "Before any ideas get into his head. _Go!_"

This snapped her wide awake. She nodded and ran after him.

Oh gods, she chose the wrong day. She chose the worst day to try to break her depression. She flew over the water, hoping to find Jaime's silhouette to no avail. Where was he? She needed to explain everything! The tears were streaming down her eyes, blurring her vision. Damn it! She hated herself so much. Why did she have to kiss Robin?

* * *

_Earlier_

* * *

Cassie walked over to the sofa and ate her bowl of popcorn silently. It was Valentine's Day. The day of love. The day of joy. And happiness because you were in love. She was in love. Yet, she didn't feel any of those. All she felt was a hollow pit in her stomach. She gave a heavy sigh. She could imagine it. How it would be like if he was still alive. They would be out on date.

A date?

They hadn't even had a date yet. They only revealed their feelings hours before his death, but to her, it felt like they had been together for years. It pained her just to be reminded of that fact. They probably would have gone flying without any direction. Maybe get lost in a random city and spend a day there. They've talked about it before. She even hoped they would at least be in South America, since he had a chance of communicating with the locals. He laughed at her at that and said he would purposely lead her to China if they do that. She began spouting threats and immediately he backed down and gave his apologies. He had the most ridiculous look on his face.

She smiled at that. Good times. They could have had so many more.

She choked and pushed the bowl to her side. She began to hug her knees and felt the tears sting her face. Her chest was rippling in sorrow. She could feel a sob coming and chewed the inside of her cheek as hard as she could. She didn't want to disturb anyone else in the Cave. She's been bothering them for a good five months. They must be sick of her moaning and groaning. They deserved a break from this _guera_.

_Guera_. She even heard it in his voice. She planted her face into the cushion of the sofa and let out a horrible cry. They always said, "Things would get better." Then why wasn't she even feeling slightly better? Why was it getting worse as time goes on? She was deteriorating each time she was reminded he was gone. She didn't know what she should do. He promised her that he would come back. Her faith in that had not wavered in the slightest bit, but was believing still worth it?

She had no idea any more.

She flipped through the channels lifelessly to pass away time. Gods, why must there be a romance movie on every single channel?

"Hey Cassie."

She turned around and saw Bart and Gar looking at her. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, "What do you want?"

"Well, me and Gar are going to watch a movie. You know, that Finding Elmo-"

"Nemo!" Gar corrected him, "How many times are you going to say Elmo?"

"It has a nice ring to it." The Speedster shrugged, "Anyways, we were wondering if you wanna watch with us. Wasn't that your favorite Pixar flick? It would also be good for you to get some fresh air, stretch a bit-"

"Actually watch something you understand." Gar looked at the TV to find _another_ Spanish soap playing.

Cassie appreciated at the boys' gestures but shook her head, "Nah, I'm good."

"Y-you sure?" Gar frowned. They were genuinely trying to help her. She felt guilty, but she couldn't. They were definitely going to watch in the Happy Harbor Cinema, which was where she and Jaime usually went for their Movie Saturdays when something good came out. Too many memories.

She nodded and forced a smile, "Of course."

"Are we forgetting something?" Gar turned to Bart.

He shrugged and looked at the dark skies, "Man, we should hurry. Last one there buys snacks." And Bart was gone.

"That's not fair!" He said as he transformed himself into some sort of bird.

Cas sighed at that. She longed for the days she could even act half like that. She hugged her knees and rested her chin on them. She watched an entire episode of the soap she was on. This was how it was every day for her. Wake up. Be in pain. Do morning rituals if possible. Go to school. Go to the Cave. Watch Spanish soaps. Have teammates worry about her. Tell she was okay even when she was not. Cry more. Try not to be a burden during a mission. Go home. Attempt to do homework. Shower. Cry. Go to bed. Cry. Sleep from exhaustion.

It was a sad cycle really. She needed to snap out of it. It was destroying her. Not that Jaime would mean to. No, he would never mean to hurt her. But he would want her to be happy, or at the least healthy. She had lost some weight ever since his death.

That's it, the next person who offers her to do something, she would accept. Just then, Robin came in. "Hey Cas. Have you seen Gar and Bart? They said they were going to watch a movie and invited me-"

She cracked a smile. Those boys…."They left thirty minutes ago. I'm guessing the movie must have started already."

Rob rubbed his temples, "Typical." Then he thought of something. No, don't ask. She was going to say no anyways. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try, "You want to watch the next showing?"

_Well, that was quick_. Cassie stood up and felt the soreness in her bones. She winced it off and nodded, "Sure."

Even if Tim was wearing sunglasses, she could still see his eyes widen in surprise, "R-really?"

"Umm," her voice turned low, "if you don't mind, can we not watch here. I'll go if we could watch anywhere else but here."

Robin nodded his head, "Sure, I know this great place in Gotham. So, should we go?"

She smiled and took his arm, "Let's."

The one thing led to another and Cas could see how much effort Rob was putting to make her smile. He bought her anything she wanted and she had the longest conversation with him in these past five months. He even offered to tell her his identity. Maybe it was the sudden joy of connecting with someone that led to the kiss. Maybe she just wanted Jaime's memory to be gone. She went too far though. And now she regretted it.

* * *

_Now_

* * *

"Cassie?" Robin said through the comm.

"You got anything?" She asked desperately.

"Yeah, I asked Megan if she could sense him. She says he's in range of her telepathic range, but is not answering her call. He's not too far by, wait, is that a cliff?"

Of course. The cliff? "I know where he is. Thank you so much, Robin." She paused for a moment and sighed, "Rob?"

"Yeah?" He sounded surprised.

"I'm sorry for using you. I should have never-"

"Don't Cassie. You believed that Jaime was still alive and I was pushing you. It's my fault. You just go find him."

She felt just a little bit lighter at that, "Thanks."

Cassie landed a good distance from the cliff. This was where they went after flying around. It was a small, quiet spot not so far from the Cave, but still had good distance to not be found. She walked ever so slowly towards it. What was she going to say to him? What would he say to her? She was so nervous. Thunder rumbled in the skies and she knew immediately that they had to shelter before anything happens.

It began to drizzle when she saw his figure. He was just sitting, watching the waves crash into the shore. She gulped and felt her eyes sting. It felt like she was suffocating. Once they were ten feet away from each other, she leaned on a nearby boulder. She could hear his moans and wished it could go away.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, "Don't you and Rob have something going on?"

His words were venom. Her heart twisted at it. She inhaled sharply and punched the boulder, feeling a dent form. "Gods. I'm so stupid!" She slid down and covered her face. "This may sound like complete…bull to you, but I am so sorry."

"Really?" His tone was so cold, "Or are you just sorry I had to see you?"

He doesn't trust her anymore? She slid to her knees and began to wail, "Jaime. I promised I did wait. I believed you were still alive. I did. Ask anyone in the Team. I…it just hurts, waiting for you. I didn't know if you were alive or not. If you were still alive, then I would never forgive myself for doubting. But if you were dead, then I wasted my time. I was just so confused."

She took in a sharp breath and let out a harsh sob. "Rob was the most worried amongst everyone. I dunno, he made me feel almost the same way as you did. I kissed him to test it, but he wasn't you. Don't hate Rob for this. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry." She repeated numbly. She sounded so pathetic. Her moans must mean nothing to him. The rain was pouring heavily, but this was not the reason she felt so cold. She was covering her mouth, so only muffled sobs can be heard.

She then felt him beside her. When she met his eyes, she broke down. They were tired and very red. Even with the rain drops falling on his face, she could easily distinguish his tears. "I should be sorry. I did _die_ after all. I shouldn't have made you that promise."

She was about to speak up, but he shushed her. His warm hand mixed with his touch made her blush. "The Scarab told me I would make it back, but I didn't know it would take me this long to come back. I'm sorry for making you wait, for hurting you. I never meant to. If you want move on to Rob-"

"No, it was a mistake." She quickly corrected him. "I…was just so desperate for that feeling again. I missed it…you so much. I'm so sorry."

He sighed sadly as removed the tears falling from her eye. It was so warm. He wondered how many times had she cried over him. He couldn't imagine what she had been through. He closed his eyes and leaned in closer to her.

Quickly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed in the gap between them. His eyes opened ever so slightly and met her eyes. Everything was communicated with that quick glance.

_I forgive you._

They kissed gently. All the sadness and grief she felt over the past months melted away. He always had that effect on her. Anything bad was gone by his touch. That was what she missed so much. Her heart fluttered in euphoria as her wounds began to mend. Slowly, it turned into something much more passionate. She did not want to let go of him. She did once already. She was not going to do it again.

It was only minutes later when Cassie sneezed that they stopped. Jaime tried to hold in his laughter, but her girly glare didn't help. It's been so long since she heard his laugh. It made her stomach churn, in a good way. In that way she missed so much. Soon she began to laugh too. Wow, it's been so long since she did that. She felt so light…so happy.

"Thanks." He smiled warmly at her as moved closer towards her again.

"For what?" She quirked an eyebrow.

He gave another light peck on her lips, "For keeping your promise. It means a lot to me. It must have been hard and you had all the reason to believe I was dead. And yet you still waited. _Gracias, guera_."

"Of course. Thanks for keeping your promise too." She held his hand. "_Te quiero_."

His face turned to a heavy shade of red, "W-when did you learn to say that?"

"Well, I've been watching a lot of soaps ever since your disappearance." She chuckled.

He laughed at that. "That's very sweet of you, _guera. _Well. I like you too. A lot."

"I'm glad then." She whispered softly into his ear. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jaime."

He embraced her, "Happy Valentine's Day, Cas."

* * *

_A/N: I apologize for the long update. I went on vacationing for a while and then had writer's block. Sorry!_

_I was this close to turning it to a heartbreak fest. Oh well. Happy ending for my Wonderbeetle. Next update should be this week since I already have the fic written out._

_ geekychic1999 – I'll confirm guera with my Spanish teacher as soon as I get back to school, but all Yahoo Answers said guera is blondie. Even in the Blue Beetle comics, Jaime's mom called her old friend guera, which translated to blondie. But I'll check just to make sure. Thanks._


	6. Balloon

_A/N: Sorry for late update. School's being mean to me : But I will try my best to at least make this a weekly thing. At least I have two more stories in my files at least. Thanks for your kind words though. They mean a lot to me :)_

_Title: Balloon _

_Rating: K_

_Word Count: Around 1,000 Words_

_Setting and Other Notes: Los Angeles. 2008 (Eight years before Invasion)_

_Summary: Eight year old Jaime just wanted to give his baby sister a gift. Now it has flown away from his reaches. When all looks glum, a blonde girl his age appears. Would she be able to help him?_

* * *

Jaime frowned as he looked at up at the tree. There it was, his pretty, bright blue balloon that he bought with his own money. The last of his money. Mom told him to think about what he buys, so he did. He didn't buy any action figures of Batman or Superman. He didn't get any food. Heck, he didn't even get a Skittles pack! Skittles! Now he wouldn't be able to enjoy the flavor of the rainbow.

Instead, he past by a balloon stall and saw this nice blue one. He thought that maybe his baby sister might like it. Then he would walk across the park, returning to the bench his mother told him to meet her. Just then, the wind blew a hard gust and alas, the balloon flew out of his hand and was now wedged between the branches of a tree.

He tried everything he could. He tried jumping. He tried climbing. He even tried jumping while climbing! But none of it worked, unless his goal was to get a boo-boo on his leg. He sighed, feeling defeat sink into his bones. He worked hard on his chores to earn that money, and here he used it to buy a gift for his sister. What did he do to deserve this?

Just then, a girl his age began to climb the tree. Jaime watched in awe, "H-hey! Get down, you might get hurt!"

The girl climbed even higher. Wow, she was actually doing it. She scaled higher until she finally reached the level of the balloon. She stretched out her hand as she tried to reach out for it. "Ugh!"

"Your almost there!" Jaime yelled, just amazed by the ability of this girl. Suddenly, she lost her grip on the trunk and fell down. The boy yelped and quickly ran towards her, ignoring the blue orb flying away. He sat beside her and checked if she had a fever of any sorts. "Hey, wake up."

She moaned and sat up, rubbing her back. He sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and laughed it off, "I'm good, thanks. That was fun actually."

He smiled and stood up, "That's great. I thought something could have happened." He held out her hand, which she took. She returned his smile and was pulled up. She looked up at the tree and frowned.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Your balloon is gone." Her voice turned soft.

He looked up in surprise and shrugged, "It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay."

She gave a weak smile, "Thanks. The name's Cassie by the way."

"Jaime." He pointed at himself.

"Oh!" Cassie snapped her fingers. She ran down the way he came from and returned with a red balloon. "Here, you take this."

Jaime's eyes widened in surprise. He shook his head, pushing it back to her, "No, I can't."

She groaned and roughly grabbed his arm. Ow! That actually hurts! What does she have, super strength? She then tied the string to his wrist, "I can tell you really wanted that balloon." She had a sweet tone.

He blushed at that and nodded, looking away from her pretty blue eyes, "Y-yeah. It's for my baby sister."

She blinked. Well, she didn't expect that. She scratched the back of her leg with her foot, "Wow. That's really nice of you."

"Thanks." He mumbled. Then they just looked at each other. It was like a magic spell had been cast on both of them. It was only when Cassie's mother called for her that they snapped out.

The girl began to ran towards the voice until Jaime called out, "Will I see you again?"

She turned around and nodded. "Yeah." A grin appeared on her face, "Yeah, we'll see each other soon. I promise!"

Jaime waved goodbye to her. Then he looked at the balloon. Cassie. That was a pretty name for a pretty girl. He would definitely want to meet her again.

The balloon deflated two weeks after that, which saddened him greatly. Then his family returned to El Paso. Years passed since that day. He met many girls that had caught his fancy, but then they were forgotten. Only Cassie remained in his mind. He would never forget her bright smile, or her sweet voice. Even if the odds were against him, he still had faith he would meet her again.

Years later, he got the Scarab and became the Blue Beetle. After an explanation from Batman, yes _the_ Batman, that the previous Blue Beetle had died, it was his turn to take on his legacy. Batman then recruited into his covert team.

Jaime walked around the alley nervously. This would be his first time meeting the Team. A group full of teenaged heroes just like him. Except, they knew exactly what they are doing. They had a purpose. Unlike him. He had a normal life until last month. These kids must have trained all their life.

What was he getting himself into?

"Hey." A voice called out to him. He quickly turned around and he saw a girl walking towards him. She looked awfully familiar. She was staring at him too. They were studying each other, trying to grasp at those fogged memories. Finally, she said, "Umm…transportation broke down for a while. Are you, you know, the new-"

He nodded, still trying to figure out exactly who she was. "Yeah, for the Team? That's me. Name's Jaime."

It looked like she was doused with ice cold water. She took in a deep breath, "I can't believe it." She covered her mouth, but that couldn't hide the shock in her face, "Jaime, it's me Cassie. You know, the one who gave you the red balloon. Do you remember me?"

He stared in shock. He nodded numbly. Then, a smile formed on his lips. "And so, we meet again."

* * *

_End Notes: Lalala, hooray for kid fic. I got the inspiration on a train station when I saw a blue balloon on its ceiling. I connected it with Jaime and thus the story formed in my head w I'll do my best to upload soon~_

_Also, two more weeks until hiatus ends! [Please let there be some Jaime/Cassie interaction T_T_


	7. Bubbly

_A/N: LOOK AT THE NEW YJ COMIC. ALL MY WONDERBEETLE FEELS. I CAN'T. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. HERE'S AN EARLY POST TO CELEBRATE._

_Title: Bubbly_

_Word Count: About 800 words_

_Rating: T_

_Warning: Alcohol. OoC Jaime?_

_Setting and Other Notes: California. 2021 (Five years after Invasion)_

_Summary: After a tiring day of college classes, all Cassie wanted to do was get a good night's re- why is there a beer can on the floor?!_

* * *

_Quick Personal WonderBeetle Headcanon: Just like Wally and Artemis, Jaime and Cassie both got Wayne Scholarships to enter UCLA. Jaime would study dentistry (which makes sense since UCLA has a good dentistry program) while Cassie would take Anthropology (I can see her as a historic person _) And just like Spitfire, they'd share an apartment. (But they'll still be a part of the Team…I guess)_

* * *

Cassie was beat. After six hours straight of nonstop history lessons, she was ready for a good night's rest.

She inserted the key into the door and entered the room. "Hey Blue. How are you doiiiiiehhhh?" She was surprised to see a can of Budweiser on the. She picked it up and was surprised to find it empty. They never bought the stuff, heck, they don't drink. And if they did, Cassie was probably be the cause of it. She went to the living room and heard Jaime laughing for no apparent reason.

She saw him lying down on the sofa, hanging his head upside down while watching what seemed to be CNN. On the table she saw two more empty cans of beer on the table. She sat beside him and rubbed his arm, "Hey there Jaime. I guess since you probably are, you wouldn't mind, but are you drunk?"

He stopped laughing and wrapped his arms around her, "Cassie! I missed you! Yeah, I'm drunk. L'gann said that I couldn't get drunk. Well, here I am. Serves him right for doubting me." He giggled. Cassie couldn't help but smile at his silliness.

"You shouldn't drink because of that." She gave a peck on his cheek. "Plus you have a morning class tomorrow."

"No I don't you silly _guera_." He flicked her nose and began laughing again. "My professor told me that he has a conference tomorrow! And the rest of my classes are at three or later. You didn't think that I would have done irresponsible drinking, did you?"

She shook her head, "No, of course not." She played an amused smile, "You're Jaime of course. Thing is though, I'm surprised that the Scarab let you drink this much."

"Pfft. Scarab, shmarab. After the second drink, his voice started to go all chipmunk-y. I wish you could hear it. Wait." He kept silent for a moment. Then he laughed like a hyena, "Did you hear that?!" And continued laughing to the point he fell off the sofa.

"Are you alright?" Cassie quickly knelt by his side.

"Perfect actually." He chuckled like a little kid. The blonde smirked at him. Usually she was told that she had a bubbly personality while Jaime was called the calm, mature one. Now, he was even bubbly-er than she ever was. He was adorable like this.

"Hey, hey." Jaime gestured for her to come closer, "I need to tell you something."

She wondered what it could possibly be. With a drunk Jaime, it could be anything. Still, she complied and lowered herself. He was about to say something, but looked as if he forgot how to speak.

She sighed sadly to herself. This probably was his first time drinking, so he must be taking the effects of the alcohol already.

Then she noticed the way he was staring at her. He became serious all of a sudden and stopped giggling. His brown eyes were staring intently at her. "What?" she asked.

He blushed and looked quite embarassed, "You look really pretty from this angle. I don't know what," He sat up so they're looking at equal levels. "But I never realized you were this beautiful. My heart is beating like crazy." He grabbed her had and placed it against his chest, "See?"

His heart was drumming against quite wildly. She blushed at that. Was that really Jaime speaking, or was that the alcohol? Either way, "That's so sweet of you, Blue."

He touched her cheek and was captivated by her sky blue eyes. It felt like their first kiss in the Cave. She placed both hands around his shoulders and filled in the gap between their lips. She could taste the sweet taste of alcohol on his lips and felt strangely enticed by it. Jaime flew to sky high. Slowly, the gentle kiss turned into something more passionate. Jaime slowly leaned on her until she was on the rugged floor. She was surprised at his sudden take of dominance, but liked the idea nonetheless. She brushed her fingers delicately through his soft hair and heard a low moan from him. Here tiredness was completely forgoteen. Instead, a sudden pit formed in her stomach and it made her nauseous and europhic at the same time.

After many minutes has passed, Jaime pulled away. He sat up and leaned against the sofa. Cassie weakly followed his lead and breathed heavily as she felt his head on her shoulder. _"Te amo, Jaime."_

"I love you too, Cas." And when she looked at him, she saw the sincerest look in his eyes.

After a few minutes of cleaning up, Jaime finally felt the pangs of reality hit him. Cassie carried him to bed and laid beside him. Though half-conscious, she felt his arms snake around her and heard what seemed like a muffled, "Good night, Cas."

A tiny smile formed on her lip. Despite his bubbly alter ego, Jaime was still Jaime. The same man who loved her no matter what. And she would do the same for him.

* * *

_Final Notes: I've never been drunk, so I based this on Yahoo Answer experiences..._

_Hee. So corny. But whatever! I can't handle it. Wonderbeetle finally has canon basis (sobs in a corner)._


	8. Ten Years From Now

_A/N: lol, why are my stories getting shorter and shorter?_

_Title: Ten Years From Now..._

_Word Count: About 700 words_

_Rating: K_

_Setting and Other Notes: Unknown. 2026 (Ten years after Invasion, go figure)_

_Summary: Ten years later, and some things never change. For Jaime though, he was going to face a very BIG change._

* * *

Jaime quickly entered the house, feeling the armor melt away from his skin. "Cassie?" He called out. One could feel the uneasiness in his voice. He looked around and saw it to be usual. The TV was off and the remotes were arranged neatly on the coffee table. The pillows on the sofa looked fluffed. In fact, the sofa itself looked new. He looked down and saw polished marble floors beneath him. Spotless in fact. Everything seemed fine.

And that was what troubled him the most.

He removed his coat and left it hastily on the sofa. He called out his wife's name again, this time a bit softer allowing the tremor in his voice to be even more obvious. The dishes in the kitchen were washed. This was beginning to scare him.

Jaime went to their room and found her napping on the bed. His anxiety left him. He took an easy breath and sat beside her. He ran his coarse hand through her fine, soft, straw blonde hair. He laid beside her and breathed in the sweet smell of her honey lotion. He gave a small peck on her forehead and watched her eyes fluttered as she woke up from the realms of her unconscious thoughts.

"You're back quick. I thought you were going on patrol." She turned herself over and leaned forward, stretching like a cat.

He smirked in amusement, "I should have known you just wanted me home early."

She gave a half-smile, a soft chuckle leaving her lips, "Yeah, well. There's a reason I want you here a little bit early."

His pursed his lips. Oh she was hiding something, "Tell me."

"You have to make me first." She gave a smug look at him.

_Challenge accepted._

He tackled her, running his fingers nimbly through her skin. She screamed and tried to resist, but soon fell into his clutches. She choked as he tickled her underarms. Her chest hurted so much. She couldn't breathe.

"Do you want to tell me now?" He grinned at her. She shook her head, her face a deep scarlet red. Oh, he knew this was coming. He quickly pulled up her shirt and ran his face on her tummy. She shrieked as she felt his hair torture her skin. She tried to push his head away, but remained fruitless.

"Fine! Fine!" He finally stopped. She gasped for air as she felt the constriction on her lungs loosened. It took her a moment to regain her composure. "It's in the fridge."

She entwined her fingers around his and pulled him to the kitchen. She instructed Jaime to sit on the table, and he happily obliged. She saw him pull out a box out of the fridge. He recognized the colorful brand and smirked, "_Mi amor_," he teased, "It hasn't even been a month since the last cake." Cassie loved buying ice cream cakes every month just because they taste good.

"Well," She carefully pulled out the cake from its container, "I thought it would be appropriate."

He noticed how simplistic it was. It was covered with white frosting and with a blue frame. Usually Cassie loved the birthday cakes, covered with rainbow sprinkles and the likes. She carried it over and carefully placed it in front of him.

He noticed the words embedded on it, "I'm surprised you got a Father's Day cake in July. How did you get it?"

She snickered and embraced him from behind, "Try to think about what it says Jaime."

"_¿Que?_" His eyebrows lifted in confusion, "It says 'Happy Father's Day, Dad'." Saying the words out loud seemed to have made a big difference. He felt his heart drop into a pit as soon as he realized what it meant. He whipped back at Cassie and felt her warm lips on his cheek.

"I'm pregnant." The words rang through his skull. She was pregnant. Pregnant with his child. They were going to be parents. Oh god, they actually made a child. They actually made life. It was just too astonishing. A ridiculous smile formed and he felt tears sting his eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak, but found his vocabulary to be stolen. He felt her arms hold him tighter, "I discovered her last night. I wanted to surprise you, so I called you in early today. Happy late father's day, Jaime."

He closed his eyes and laughed as he felt something wet form in his eyes. Though there a slight bit of anxiety resting at the back of his mind, it was dominated by feelings of excitement and jubilation. He just couldn't wait.

* * *

_End Notes: Had no idea how I got this. I just…I don't know. I guess I was practicing imagery for Language Arts and got carried away, hee. Seven days left for Invasion, and I might not even see it :"'-D Why dentist?! Why couldn't you make the appointment at 12?!_


	9. Anxiety

_A/N: Hi guys. Sorry for LONGish update. School is eating away my soul (though I am very active in tumblr so it's no excuse...). I'll try my best to update more often, no promises though._

* * *

_Title: Anxiety_

_Rating: K plus_

_Word Count: About 400 words_

_Setting and Other Notes: A church, I guess. Set about eight to nine years post-Invasion._

_Summary: Today was the the day. The day they were going to seal the day. He gulped nervously. Were they moving too fast? What if he was making a huge mistake? Was he ready?_

* * *

Was he ready? No. Not at all.

Jaime was dying internally. He can't. No. There was no way they were actually doing this. He was freaking out. FREAKING. OUT.

_Anxiety levels extremely high. It is advisable to step way from action._

Yeah yeah. As if he could bail out of his own wedding day. What the hell was he thinking? She was fresh out of college while he still had like three more years to go. Ugh, no. He was feeling really sick right now.

He watched Lian come down the aisle, pouring down red petals along the way. She was beautiful, and he could see Red gleaming with pride.

Wait. If the flower girls are up now, then that means Cassie was coming up. Then they would have to perform vows. Vows. That would seal the deal. No going back after this. Was he making the right choice? Did he push it?

All he was doing was joking around one night. Asking what would she do if he proposed. She would say yes. She said it with such clarity that it took him a back quite a bit. Then he asked if they could really become serious. And she said yes.

God, he could have at least had a dinner of some sorts. That was a very "exciting" proposal story right there.

He felt something on his shoulder. He turned to his left and saw Bart smiling at him, "Come on, _hermano_. Don't look so nervous. It wouldn't look so crash in the picture."

He knew he was trying to help, but the last thing on his mind was the pictures! He tuned back to the event and saw little Irey trotting down the aisle, Artemis holding her hand.

Jaime was feeling faint. After Iris would be the bride. Oh man. Oh God. Was there any way to pause time and just give him a moment to breath? No. No. He can't do this. He was not ready.

The music suddenly changed. Not yet. Everyone was rising up and turning around. No. Don't. Stop. Please?

He swore he was going to throw up.

"Smile, _por favor._" The speedster whispered. Despite all the nervousness and fear being pent up, he smiled, thought it was rather forced.

Then it became natural.

He was just in utter shock as he saw his wife-to-be glowing as she went down the aisle. She was absolutely astonishing. All those feeling earlier had just been blown away by pure elation. Their eyes met and he saw the same joy as he was feeling.

"You ready?" Was the last thing his best friend whispered.

And he was. He really was.

* * *

_End notes: (Original Prompt: Imagine your OTP on their wedding day, and both of them are jittery and nervous and wondering whether or not this was such a good idea—until they get to see each other's faces.)_

_So, yeah. I basically wrote this for practice. But I liked it. I hope you liked it too :)_


	10. Translation, ¿Por Favor?

_A/N: Hi guys. Not much to say. Sorry for lame post this time. I just felt that WonderBeetle needs something a little more on the darker side, since the dark side has cookies and all o3o_

* * *

_Title: Translation, ¿Por Favor?_

_Rating: T_

_Warning: Umm...well, sexual references I guess. Oh! And terrible Spanish usage (I apologize in advance)_

_Word Count: About 800 words_

_Setting and Other Notes: El Paso. Team Year Eight or Nine [two or three years post Invasion] or whenever Avengers 3 comes out_

_Summary: Taking his mom's suggestion, Jaime decided to teach Cassie some Spanish phrases. Now only if he could keep his hands off her..._

_Prompt: Imagine your OTP teaching each other to speak a different language but end up saying naughty phrases to each other all the time._

* * *

"So, _guera,_ did you like mom's cooking?" Jaime asked as he collected the plates. He and Cas had just finished a mission and his mother insisted that Cassie should stay for dinner and hey, how could she refuse _Tía's_ cooking? Plus, with the missions, they were missing their Marvel Movie Marathon night and it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on that.

"Oh, just extremely amazing." Cassie complimented with such a grateful voice, "_Yo quiero mucho el arroz y pollo. Muchas gracías, Tía_." She stuttered several times, but she was pretty sure she said it correctly.

His mom raised an eyebrow as she received the plates, "Jaime says you take French for school. Did he teach you those words?"

"Uhm, no. I had to dig into my Dora dictionary actually." She laughed it off. "In fact, _tía,_ Jaime rarely uses any Spanish phrases when talking to me, except_guera _or _te amo_."

Jaime tried to avoid his mom's deadly gaze. Bianca playfully shook her head, "That's a shame, _mijo._ Not sharing your language is like not sharing a part of yourself." She placed the last plate on the rack and dried her hands, "I'm going to watch a movie with Milagro. Your Dad is still at work and won't be back until late at night." She turned to the blonde and smiled, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to tell Jaime or call me. We will be back in three hours." Then she left the two alone.

The Latino gave her a playful look. "Dora? Really, _guera?_"

"Well maybe if you actually gave me some reference, I wouldn't have to refer to a fictional character." She had a smug smile on her face as they walked towards the sofa. They were going to have a Marvel Movie Marathon since Avengers 3 was coming out soon, but Jaime made her sit on the sofa first.

He smirked at her and asked, "So, what exactly do you want me to tell you?"

She pursed her lips as her fingers intertwined with his, "Well, if I'm not mistaken, '_te amo_' means 'I love you', right?" He nodded and then she continued, "Well, how do you say 'you're amazing'?"

"_Eres incrieble._" He said with such a sincere tone that it tugged her heart, "Which you are, _mi amor._"

"I'm guessing that's 'my love', right?" She smiled. He nodded and she continued, "Hmm, give me another one."

A million possible compliments went to his head. He went to something a little more advanced, "_Me encanta todo de ti._" He let the words roll of his tongue. He could see that she was impressed, but clueless as to what he was saying. He held back a chuckle and translated, "I said, 'I like everything about you.'"

Her eyes widened and a faint blush appeared on her face, "_Gracias…_" Her voice trailed off as tried to look for the right word. She tried to dig in to that one year she took Spanish in third grade. Then she remembered, "_mi hombre. Eres muy sexy._" She attempted with several stutters. What? It was an adjective she knew was the same in Spanish. Plus, it was the truth.

A sly smile went up his face. That pleased him immensely. He leaned so close so that he was right near her ear, "_Tu me excitas."_" He then kissed behind it. Her breathe hitched and she wrapped her arms around him. He went down to her neck and her grip tightened. It was like hot iron was being pressed against her skin. He then captured her lips. She could taste the spice of his mom's cooking on him. Her core began to tighten, but then he pulled away. She could feel the blood pounding in her head.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises. I guess I found my new nickname for you, eh? And to think I was just stringing words. I'm glad I didn't switch it with _mujer_. I was about to." She giggled weakly.

He laughed at that and said, "_No hay ninguna chica como tu._"

Cassie sighed and looked back to Spanish Negative 101, "_No….lo…entiendo_." Her voice was high as she guessed the words.

He smiled in amusement and translated, "There's no other girl like you."

She flushed in embarrassment with a silly smile on her face. He then went on top of her and she sighed, feeling the excitement pent up inside her, "So we're not having our Marvel Movie Marathon tonight, huh?"

"_Me pones muy caliente._" He said in a very low voice.

She shivered at the tone of his voice. It dripped like poison against her ears. "Should I even bother asking you to translate," She wrapped her legs around his waist, "or am I correct in knowing where this is going?"

He smirked. That was the only answer she needed.

* * *

_Spanish-English Reference:_

_Guera - Blondie_

_Tia - Auntie_

_Yo quiero mucho el arroz y pollo. Muchas gracías, Tía. - I really like the chicken and rice. Thanks a lot, Auntie._

_Te amo - I love you_

_Mijo - Son_

_Eres increible - You're amazing_

_Me encanta todo de ti. - I like everything about you._

_Gracias, mi hombre. - Thank you, my man (I heard Hispanic men love being called this)_

_No hay ninguna chica como tu - There is no other girl like you_

_Mujer - Woman_

_Tu me excitas/_ _Me pones muy caliente - (uhm) You turn me on_

* * *

_End Notes: Got most of phrases from Yahoo Answers…so I apologize if some things come out wrong._


	11. Ice Skating

_Title: Ice-Skating_

_Rating: T_

_Warnings: A Spanish curse (and a sassy Scarab?)_

_Word Count: Around 900 words_

_Setting and Other Notes: Team Year Five (one year pre-Invasion). California._

_Summary: Cassie takes Jaime iceskating. Too bad the Scarab is annoying him about the risks about it. Unfortunately, Jaime is starting to believe it._

* * *

_This is a bad idea. This 'walking on ice' has been known to cause broken legs, arms, and even necks._

Jaime scratched the back of his head as he felt the blood drain form his cheeks. The Scarab loved to exaggerate details. Still, that does not mean they were false.

_Of course my information is true. This activity requires strong leg muscles, bravery, and grace. You have none of those, unfortunately._

"Very encouraging." He mumbled to himself. Sadly, these were all true. Cassie bounced up to him, a smile plastered on her face. She was literally beaming as she held the ice skates in her hands.

"I'm so excited! Thanks so much for agreeing to do this with me!" Her voice was two pitches higher than normal. Jaime felt something flutter in his core.

"Of course," He blurted out; what was he saying? "Uh, is that for me?" He pointed towards the skates.

She nodded her head rapidly and held it in front of him. He gave an amused smile and grabbed them from her. She sat beside him and wore her skates in a flash.

_The Flash is faster than the speed of light. This girl could not even break the sound barrier-_

"It's an expression." He groaned as he finished tying the first skate. Cassie was so excited that she went ahead into the rink. He watched in awe as she effortlessly glided through the ice. She was so majestic as she spun in the air and landing with a bright smile on her face. Even if his teeth were chattering, he felt a certain warmth. There was no way a princess like her would want a frog like him.

_Was she not a demi goddess? And you are not a frog, even if the African Clawed Frog may have one thousand seven hundred similar genes to humans-_

Jaime tightened his second skate and stood up. Surprisingly, it was not that hard to balance, but standing on a thin sheet of metal did certainly feel weird. He slowly wobbled his way towards the rink and felt his blood leave him. He gulped as he slowly placed his first foot on the ice. So far so good. Next foot now. Easy. Easy.

_"Mierda!"_ He cursed as he held tightly to the railing. He felt his heart drop to the center of the earth and back. Okay! This was a bad idea! He was panicking! God, he wanted to get out now.

"Hey!" Cassie called out as she skated towards him. She went beside him and leaned by the railing, "Why didn't you call me? I was waiting for you."

"Uhh, well." His voice trailed off and he felt a fire blaze on his cheeks; a drum beat was set against his ears. He didn't want to tell her, but then again, it might just save his sorry butt. "You see, I can't really skate. I, um, never tried it before."

She stared at him big-eyed. Great, he must have ruined it. He gave a heavy exhale and was about to apologize until she gripped both of his wrists. When he looked at her, he saw she was smiling, "Come on. You did a great job of just getting here." She reassured him. "Don't try to lift your feet. Just slide instead."

He nodded and trusted her. Slowly, she skated back, keeping her eyes glued on his. Despite his racing heartbeat, he was in a daze with her calm blues. He was actually doing it. He was not falling. Though he was pretty sure it was just a couple of minutes, it felt like an entire mission had just past through. In a good way.

"Jaime," Cassie's sweet voice rings through his head, "Look." She held her hands up.

On instinct, he looked at his own and realized he skating on his own.

Crap.

He felt himself slid and the world tumbled over. He expected a flat, ice, hard landing. Instead, it was still hard, but rather warm. Jaime tried to focus and felt something human under him.

Double crap.

He quickly sat and felt the ice sting his bottom. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head; afterwards she stood up and helped him up.

_"Lo siento." _Jaime said for the sixth time.

Cassie just gave her signature cheery smile and waved it off. "I'm fine. A couple of falls won't hurt. Just have to get back up again, right?"

He smiled as the fact that she was okay finally sunk in. "Right." He looked at the clock and learned that they had twenty more minutes left. He held his hand out, "Come on, I'm just getting the hang of this."

She lit up and grabbed his wrist, "So, since we don't mind a couple of falls now, you think we can go fast?"

Jaime just stared at her in disbelief, and then he laughed. She took it as a yes and pulled him, definitely taking him out of his comfort zone. He found it thrilling though, even fun. He was glad she brought him here.

_YOU SHOULDN'T BE! DO YOU KNOW THE RISK YOU ARE PUTTING YOURSELF INTO? GET OFF THIS ICE NOW BEFORE I ATTACK THIS SO CALLED MATE OF YOURS!_

Oh well, at least half of himself had fun.

* * *

_End Notes: Thank God exams are over. I need to write something new for my followers here. Any suggestions?_


	12. If Only

_A/N: Did you know that WonderBeetle was actually acknowledged by Christopher Jones (aka the one who draws the YJ comics) and knows about it (he says, "I see all.") That is all.  
_

_EDIT: WHOEVER GETS THE HUNDREDTH REVIEW GETS A FREE WONDERBEETLE REQUEST FROM ME (as if I ever charged before)_

* * *

_Title: If Only_

_Word Count: About 600 words_

_Rating: K plus_

_Setting: Team Year Six (A few days after "Before the Dawn"). Probably in the Hall of Justice._

_Summary: If only you knew the effect you had on him, would you have acted differently?_

* * *

He was just watching you. Or at least, that was what you thought.

He was the 'new kid' right after you. You recruited him into the Team and was his first partner as you saved Metropolis from that Braniac guy. In a way, you two have a certain bond.

He was never even meant to be here. It was a one in a trillion shot that he was supposed to receive his powers. Yet fate had decided to play this little game on him, and in a way, it decided to play with yours too.

You thought that he just looked at you at the right time. Well, he always had the right sense of time. In fact, the reason he became a hero was because he was at the wrong place at the right time. Luck seemed to be on his side. Without becoming a hero, he would never had stopped the Black Beetle.

There was a reason he looked at you at that moment, and it was not just mere coincidence.

Admit it, your heart fluttered as soon as you saw those dark, ebony eyes. They were soft and you (would never have the heart to admit this) thought they were beautiful as well. It was a mix of something that seemed lost, yet someone who was determined to not give up.

It shocked you, especially considering that he had just faced his sadistic counterpart. You just had to admire his courage.

The reason he had looked at you was that he admired you as well. He seeked you to find comfort in this desperate situation. As soon as he saw that reassuring smile of yours, he found his determination once again.

It was because of you that he gained that look in his eyes.

He heard that helpless banging mixed with your muffled cries. He had not known it was you yet, but as soon as he discovered that you and the rest of the Team has been hurt, he knew he had to put an end. He was to ashamed to ask if you were okay, but that smile you gave him was an answer and he was so, so grateful for it.

The reason he was so grateful for it was he that he holds feeling for you, Cassandra Sansdmark. A girl like you, whose heart knows no containers and yet has the ability to stand for what she believes what is right, has shot him straight out of the sky.

You have captured him and you are still oblivious that he is your prey. He has fallen straight into your clutches and is just desperately for your move.

If only you knew that clawing feeling in your stomach whenever you saw him as of late was the same thing he felt about you since the very beginning.

If only you understood that maybe you wanted to know this Jaime Reyes a little bit more and that would make him immensely elated.

If only you knew that there is nothing to fear, that he would accept this with a smile on his face. If only you knew the potential that you and him share. There would be laughter, discovery, some sadness on the side, but in the end, the feeling that you have someone who would never leave your side.

Would you have just passed him with a smile, or would you have let all caution to the wind and jumped into the unknown?

* * *

_End Note: I imagined that the Scarab could be talking, but I remembered he was an unemotional, formal, blood-thirsty piece of AI. In case you were wondering, the YJ comic has some new Wonderbeetle scraps (we take whatever we can). I just hope Christopher isn't messing with me when he said that there might be Wonderbeetle feels in the next comic._


	13. Sincere Kindness

_A/N: ...Hi...What's up? I just finished midterms and am currently in Web Design class...Decided I should be kind and post this. Sorry about the late update. I have a whole bunch of stories lined up though, so expect more frequent updates (you can hold me against this if I don't). Sorry again. Otherwise, I'm quite proud of this story. Hope you enjoy.  
_

* * *

_Title: Sincere Kindness  
_

_Alternate Title: น้ำใจ (which means sincere kindness; true willingness to help others, even before they ask, without expecting anything in return [source: other-worldly on tumblr])  
_

_Word Count: About 1,100 words_

_Rating: T  
_

_Setting: College/Coffee Shop AU (Cas is probably nineteen while he's twenty-one)  
_

_Summary: With Cassie's temper reaching the near the melting point, would there be anyway, or rather anyone who would be able to stop her from breaking?  
_

* * *

Cassie rushed towards the nearest roof. She did not care if she was going to slip and bang her head against the pavement, even if she should. That did not matter! All she could think of was staying dry.

Stupid. Why didn't she bring her car to school today? Well simple: Mom told her no. Cassie was not the best driver around and thus got tickets for the silliest of things. As a lesson, Mom made her go to school this entire week by public transportation, which just happened to be the coldest week in history (no lie, it was on the news just that morning).

And to think, it was only Monday!

_Thanks Mom!_ She thought begrudgingly. _If I become sick, we know who to blame. Which would mostly be passed on to me._

She wore her headphones and checked the time. She had probably fifteen minutes before the school train came. She could probably get some breakfast first considering the station was not far off.

Cassie went to her usual coffee place with about nine minutes left on her watch. The place was nearly empty, thankfully. It was just this redhead and his probably-girlfriend (since he had his arm around her) by the cashier and this elderly looking woman waiting behind them. The girlfriend held their food while the man received his change and receipt. Before they left, she heard him tease, "Souvenir." as he waved the receipt.

The cashier Bibbo, though old, had a pleasant smile. They were quite acquainted actually. He also made some of the best coffee Cas had ever tasted. Cassie would have actually considered sitting down with him to talk about her crappy morning had her schedule not been so tedious.

This lady definitely took her time in ordering. She knew she was elderly and all, but for God's sake, it's not that hard to pick. She checked her music player and realized she had about six minutes now. She clenched her fists, trying to restrain herself from screaming. She did not have time for this!

She was really ready to explode when a young man entered from the kitchen. He was wearing a winter coat, looking ready to leave. He must have realized the situation since he said, "I think you should try the Caesar Salad. It's really fresh and light." and it honestly sounded like he meant it.

The lady's face brightened and she ordered just that with an addition of an orange juice. Bibbo nodded and placed his hand on the man. "Son, do you mind taking this young lady's order before you leave? I need to get something from the back. You both are going to the same place anyways." He had this charming smile that no one could say no to. The young man nodded his head, looking a bit surprised.

Cassie went up and placed her usual order: an espresso and a light sandwich. She noticed some of the cashier's feature. He was maybe around her age, if not just a bit older. He had short dark hair and dark eyes to match. Yet, his eyes held this certain quality to it. She couldn't decipher what it was though. It was enticing though, like a mystery she wanted to solve.

"You go to Ivy University too?" He asked her as he placed her order in a paper bag.

She caught herself just staring too long and pulled out a ten dollar bill. She handed it to him, just brushing his hand by a tiny bit. This sent chills down her spine. She pulled it away and nodded, hoping he did not consider that gesture weird.

"Y-y-yeah. I'm actually heading to the station." She received the change and grabbed the paper bag from him. "I've never seen you here before, are you new?"

He nodded as he pulled on the hood of his coat. "Hey Bibbo, I'm leaving." The man yelled as they left the store. They went to the station and sat by an empty bench. He then directed his attention at her. "I needed some extra cash, and my friend Conner was able to get me a job here. I just started this morning."

Cassie continued looking at his eyes. Unlike her, he seemed pretty relaxed, even if they were in the same predicament. Shouldn't he have been upset when he was held back from going to school? He sounded very sincere when he helped that old woman make her order. He took her order without a complaint. Had that been Cassie, she would have tried to wriggle her way out by making excuses.

That was when she thought that maybe, just maybe, he might actually delight in helping other people. It seemed so…radical to her. In a world where selfish desires and greed is the norm, this made him seem like an angel.

"Is there something on me?" He asked her way too innocently. She blushed and looked at the track, seeing their train arriving.

"None!" She stood up and adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "So, which building are you going to?"

"Medical. You?"

Aw man. This meant that they had to sit in different cars of the train. "Historical." She replied, and there was just a sting of disappointment in her voice.

He stood up too, getting ready to part ways. "I'll see you later then, uhh…_guera_."

"It's Cassie." The train arrived and he began walking up to his car. She frowned as she realized what he said. "Wait. What does that even mean?"

He took a moment to pause and shrugged. "Meet me again and I'll tell you. I'm at Bibbo's every morning from now on. The name's Jaime by the way." He then gave her this cheeky smile before entering his car. The blonde felt her heart flutter and had to take an extra breath before entering the train. She sat by an empty seat and breathed a sigh of relief. She made it.

She emptied it out the paper bag, sipping on her drink. Wow. It tasted even better than usual. She took another sip. Then another. She had to restrain herself from drinking the whole thing. That was when she noticed the writing on it. Normally Bibbo would write on it if there were many customers, but this wasn't even his hand-writing. She read it.

_You looked pretty down earlier. Bibbo said this is your favorite. I apologize in advance if it doesn't taste the same, but I hope this brightens your day. :)_

Cassie smiled and allowed herself just one more sip. She felt warmth spread through her cheeks as she leaned her head against the window.

Maybe commuting this week would not be so bad after all.

_~*Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.*~_

_- Scott Adams_


	14. We Got You

_A/N: Whoosh, so here's an update. Some Bart goodness in here too. Not much else to say. Hope you enjoy.  
_

* * *

_Title: We Got You  
_

_Word Count: About 1,400 words  
_

_Rating: T  
_

_Setting: High School AU  
_

_Summary: No matter how rough her day was, she could always count on her best friends too make it better.  
_

* * *

"What do you mean your coat fell into the pool?" Bart asked with a half chewed piece of pizza in his mouth. Cassie groaned and buried her face in her hands. She just explained everything to Jaime and now that Bart was back from the cafeteria line, she had to explain everything again, reminding her off every sucky detail of her morning.

"I'm going to get some food." The Latino said as he slipped out of the chair, unsure if he should leave her with the 'speedster'. In the end, he chose to go, deciding it would be even more awkward if he stayed.

Bart sat on the chair opposite to her and placed down four slices of pizza (all for himself). Cassie smoothed her hair and heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright. First I missed the bus since I had to make sure Mom was well-rested - you know, that crazy fever since Monday - and so I was late for Mister Wayne's class this morning. Now I have a day less for one of his projects."

Bart winced at the sound of that. Mister Wayne's projects were a pain at the best of times. "Then I forgot my clothes for Gym, so Miss Lance had put me on pool cleaning duty. Then my partner Diesel forgot our Language Arts paper, so Mister Kent would give me an eighty at best if I bring it tomorrow." She paused as if she was hit by a ton of bricks. She checked the folder in her bag and groaned. She hit her head on the desk.

She cursed to herself. "I had the written version in my bag all along! No way he's going to accept this." She placed it aside on the table. "Finally, during study hall, which I spent cleaning the pool, some idiot freshman was snooping through my stuff. I caught him, he got scared, and dragged my coat into the pool. Thankfully, Miss Lance said she could get it dry it before school ends."

When she finished, Jaime returned with two pizzas. He placed one in front of her before sitting besides Bart. The speedster had an idea and pulled a Chicken Whizees out of his bag and put it beside her food. "I ate about two in study hall, so there's still a lot."

Jaime stared in admiration. "Wow, you never do that." He smirked. "Something wrong with your stomach?"

Bart rolled his eyes as he gave a playful punch to the Latino. "Of course not. That will only happen if, and only if, I lose the track championship. What I can't stomach is an upset girl."

Cassie gave a sad smile. "Thanks so much you guys."

The boys smiled at each other, feeling just a bit relief to see that smile on her. At least their efforts meant something.

Thirty minutes passed with mostly Jaime and Bart sharing stories of what happened during their morning classes. Cassie only spoke when they asked for her opinion, which she replied with one word statements.

When the bell rang, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Jaime and Cas shared Biology next with Mister Jones on the left wing of the building while Bart had Mister Wayne in the basement. Usually the listener between the duo, Jaime had never felt this awkward with the blonde since the time they first met (aka the first day of freshmen year).

"So, you made sure you have everything?" Jaime started after a while.

She looked ticked when he said that. "I did. Don't you think I would after what happen this morning?" She hissed through gritted teeth. He decided to stop all attempts of conversation from that point on.

_That was not the response I was looking for._ He thought glumly.

When they reached their room, they noticed that all the students were waiting by the door. Mister Jones was there, so what was the hold up?

Then the bell rung.

"Right." Jaime muttered under his breath. That was why he brought his hoodie. "Evacuation drill today."

"I realize that." Cassie said with a cold tone, following the line of students heading down the staircase.

_Should have stayed quiet Reyes._ He mentally face palmed himself as he followed. As soon as they stepped outside, a harsh winter wind blown. It smacked him like that dodge ball from gym earlier. He could hear students complaining about the cold weather. Friends were bundling up together and teachers, who were prepared, watched carefully in the comfort of their thick coats.

Maybe he should have taken Environmental this year instead of last year (then again, he had no power over his schedule as a freshman). Tye, Asami, and Gar were visiting LexFarms, which he had to admit was pretty interesting despite it being an "educational trip". Bart had even instigated a food fight then, tomatoes being his weapon of choice. At least they were warm while he had to fight of this freezing climate.

They moved as quickly as they could to their destination, which was the middle school about five minutes away. Jaime looked over at Cassie and realized that she was only wearing a light cardigan under a sleeveless shirt. Her hands were on her arms, trying to warm herself. Even though he hated this cold weather, at least he wore a thick hoodie and a long sleeved shirt underneath. She on the other hand looked miserable.

Immediately, Jaime took off his sweater and placed it around her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she tried to smack his hands away. "Hey!"

"Don't 'hey' me." He argued as he made her wear it. "It's a windy day and you're out here in a cardigan. You're trembling right now and you expect me to ignore it?"

Another harsh wind blew. Jaime winced at that and hid his hands inside his sleeves. Cassie frowned. "It's not fair if you have to be cold."

"Who said I was cold?"

"Your teeth is chattering." She pointed out. He realized this and forced himself to stop. She took off his hoodie and gave it back to him. Knowing that Cassie would be stubborn, he accepted it. He wore it, but did not zip it. Instead (without thinking of course) he wrapped Cassie around.

The space between them was tight, so Cassie's shoulder was pressed against his chest. She tried to squirm, but he kept a tight grip around her. Finally, she accepted defeat and held her side of the hoodie. "You just won't quit."

"Of course." His voice had a tone of arrogance. "There was no way I could survive being with you without being irrational, you know?"

"I am not irrational!" Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "If anyone's irrational, it's you!"

"Which I learned from you, _mi amor_." He teased, mimicking the actor's deep tone from the Spanish movie they watched. However, this made Cassie's ears warm up. A moment later, he realized what he said and looked away from her.

In that fleeting moment she forgot her bitterness from the morning. She smiled and shook her head. It required all of this nonsense to make her feel better?

"Thanks, Jaime." She smiled at him. That was her first real smile of the day. This sent a warm sensation through him and he nodded, a cheesy grin growing on his face.

"Anything for you, Cas." And right there and then, he had this overwhelming desire to kiss the top of cute her blonde head.

Uhm, no. No way. No-uh. She didn't want any romance in high school and he needed to focus on studies.

Bart (thankfully) ruined the moment by suddenly appearing in front of them. The speedster was glowing just like that moment he won the free Chicken Whizees for a year on the last day of school. "Hey, Cas. I talked to Mister Wayne earlier and explained your situation. He said he understood and told me your punishment is lifted."

Her eyes brightened at his words. "What?" She was astonished. "Really? Thank you so much!" She squealed, which was an unnatural sound to both of them.

"In addition!" Bart interjected, walking backwards with expertise. "I submitted your final draft to Mister Kent, since his class was beside Mister Wayne's. IStoleThemFromTheTableWhenYo uWeren'tLooking. I made up a story that I was looking at it for reference and thus forgot to give it to you. He gave me this long lecture, blah blah blah, but accepted it." He had a smug smile. "You are _so_ welcome."

In the span of a heartbeat, Cassie tackle hugged him. Considering that she was part of the football team, her strength almost made him fall on the concrete ground. Bart was gesturing for help, but Jaime held his hands up in the air innocently.

"Make a choice Sandsmark, then keep moving." Mister Batson, their study hall proctor, had an impish smile on his face.

Whoosh. The weather howled at them again. Cassie ran back to her hoodie buddy. "Good choice. Allen is too impulsive anyways. Later kiddos!" And their proctor ran off into the crowd of students ahead. Bart scowled and ran after him, yelling how he was so _not_ being impulsive.

The duo laughed at that. Jaime looked down at her and asked, "You feeling better now, _guera_?"

"Yeah." She nodded, just gripping the hoodie a bit tighter. "Thanks to you guys."

"Well, remember, we always got your back." When he said that, there were no words to describe what she felt. All she could think of was how lucky she was to have these guys in her life.


	15. His Best

_A/N: Man, I wonder how on earth they're going to save Jaime and defeat the Reach in three episodes...Anyways, have some hurt this time._

* * *

_Title: His Best_

_Word Count: About 1,000 Words_

_Rating: T_

_Setting: A week after 'War'. The new base._

_Summary: Jaime breaks free from the Reach's control just one more time before sinking into oblivion._

* * *

**BLÜDHAVEN**

**April 15, 17:45 EDT**

Cassie entered the temporary base, checking in with Nightwing if there was anything up. Of course, things were a lot of things that were **up**, but the chief stated that they can't risk anymore media situations. As a result: no missions unless it was of extreme importance and **covert**. This ban got even worse when that stupid Arsenal blew up LexCorp Farms. Ugh…

This still did not discourage her from the hopes of a mission popping up. Apparently, Jaime and Bart got the greatest luck when it came to those. Jeez, she missed the rush of missions. Even patrolling Gateway was not that fun since Wonder Woman still absent.

Back at the beginning of the school year, there were actually missions to be done, so she missed some of her classes. With her spare free time though, Mom began to expect more out her Academic life. And by some miracle, she was even passing Biology, her worst subject. This was the girl who can easily be distracted by specks of dust floating in the air, thank you very much.

Cassie saw Jaime talking to Nightwing about something. Well speak of the devil. Okay, so maybe the only reason she was passing was because he tutored her. He was like a god or something in the subject. In return, she helped him with US History, aka her only good subject besides Gym. She hasn't seen him for a week now. It was only proper of her to thank him.

The Latino finished his conversation and headed her way. Cassie held up her hand to wave, but he just passed her. She felt something churn in her stomach. She turned around and grabbed his wrist. He tried to pull it away, but she kept her grip. "Hey!" He snapped.

"Hey yourself." She grunted as she allowed him to jerk his hand away from her.

He stared hard at her for a moment. Suddenly he placed a hand on his forehead as his eyes squeezed shut. He gritted his teeth and looked like he was in pain. This melted any anger Cassie had. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just…just the Scarab." He muttered under his breath.

She nodded. Yeah, she heard of the thing in the last Team briefing. It always bothered Jaime by being a major pain in the "arsenal", as Bart would say. Maybe he was just having a bad day. "Sorry. I just wanted to thank you, that's all. I got a high B on that exam thanks to you." She gave a weak chuckle.

Again, another painful wince overcame him. Cassie reached out her arm to hold him, but decided against it and held back. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. "Yeah. I'm just…." He exhaled deeply. "This Reach problem is just really wearing me out. It's everywhere and I just can't-"

Right. Jaime's armor was apparently of the Reach. Cassie wished she could do something to cheer him up. But she was never the "lie-to-make-you-feel-better" types. That would never work, especially with a guy like him.

"You're strong, Jaime." Cassie stated, her voice clear of any doubt.

He rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Psh. As if."

"No, really. The stuff you face is really harsh." She rubbed her arm self-consciously as she looked away from his gaze. "One, your best friend isn't allowed to return home. Two, the Reach is out for blood and wants to use you. Three, you have that annoying voice in the back of your head. Jaime, having one of those problems would probably drive me nuts, let alone the three of them together. The way you just handle it though…. You make a constant effort to help others first despite it all. Me? I would just scream and act without thinking."

Another splitting headache manifested within the boy. This one looked worse the others. Despite that, she saw the smile that she was used to. The one that he shared when they were making nerdy History or Biology jokes in El Paso's library. Then, it faded in a blink of an eye. He looked like he just saw the life drain out of someone. "_Lo siento, _Cas. Whatever I do, I'm sorry." His eyes were filled with doubt and shame.

"Don't be." She shook her head. "You're doing your best, right? You're only one guy, Jaime. We're here to help you. It's not like the world's gonna collapse by one tiny mistake you make, alright?"

Something twisted inside him. He held back a choke and nodded his head. "Right. I'm counting on you guys. Thank you, for everything."

"Man, you say that like it's a goodbye or something." She teased.

He had no idea on how to reply. Just then, a splitting pain stabbed through his neck. He inhaled sharply and tried to soothe it by rubbing it. "Well, I am." It became even worse and he mumbled. "I'm going home. _Estoy muy cansado_."

Cassie then told him to rest well and not to push himself. He promised he won't and went through the zeta tube.

* * *

What a total lie.

Jaime exited the tiny shed hidden in an alleyway. His body smacked right into the wall. Ugh! He could feel the Scarab – No. That was not right – the Reach prying into his mind. He should have never trusted that stupid Green Beetle. The freaking demon put him on mode. Now it was constant war for control.

He thought he lost last night. He was trapped in his own body, aware of what he was seeing, doing, and saying. He found himself acting normally around his family and teammates with a few minor bad slips. When he said something harsh to Milagro or ignored Nightwing, God, he felt so **disgusting**. He tried resisting, but he couldn't. It was like watching a horror movie unfold before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.

Hearing Cassie compliment his strength stung him. He needed to prove to himself that she was right. He broke free for just that moment, but now he was slowly returning into his jail cell.

His knees lost their strength and he was on the ground. His sight was becoming blurry and his ears were buzzing loudly. It was like _it_ was trying to evict him out of his own body. He never felt so helpless before, not even when the Reach were trying to mode him a month back.

He wanted to cry. He was trying his hardest to resist this change. He really had the fate of the world in his hands, and he was too weak to save it.

Why was his best just not enough?

* * *

_**Spanish - English Translation**_

_Lo siento. - I'm sorry._

_Estoy muy cansado. - I'm very tired._

* * *

_End Note: The lines from Coldplay's 'Fix You' played in my head when writing this. Specifically the beginning, 'When you try you're best and you don't succeed'. Hence the title.  
_


End file.
